what pre amp for my setup,

Do you always believe what you are told? Many say just the opposite. There are advantages and disadvantages to both options. Do the research to educate yourself then try it both ways. You be the judge!

Timo is right, the preamp is something else that will distort your sound. With every peice of equipment that the signal must pass through you create more distortion. If however you need a tape-loop, then your forced to a preamp perhaps.

There are many preamps out there to chose from. Very hard to make a recomendation without knowing your speakers, room size, etc. If you insit on a preamp try a well known brand that is a little outdated. That way you will gain some experience, get the feel for a companies basic signature. And if you don't like it, you can usaully sell it without losing money. Assuming you bought it at a good used price.

In my experience like all components, each changes the sound either better (to your liking) or worse (not to your liking). So premaps will add more dynamics and more fullness to the mids so don't. There are plenty of dealers who will send you a preamp to try out right here on Agon so call them and try one out it is that simple.

Happy Listening.

In my experience I seem to always prefer having a tube preamp in the chain, but that's just me. I enjoy the life, fullness and dimension a tube preamp adds. For me a tube preamp enhances the musical experience. Others may feel this just more distortion in the signal path.

It's definitely a personal thing, and therefore no correct answer or categorical statement can be made about which is better. It's almost like saying one color is better than another.

Get a better idea of what you like in musical reproduction and what you hope to gain by adding a tube preamp, then you'll know if it's the right move for you.