Metal or Carbon Resistors - Which is better?

For some passive linestages, the resistors are almost the whole game—they have a few switches/selector, and attenuation means a stepped attenuator or relay switching of different combination of resistors.  The right choice is important.

There is a website that reviewed resistors for a passive attenuator and it concluded the Audio Note 2w silver tantalums were the best sounding by far; unfortunately they are so expensive it isn’t practical to use them for all steps in a stepped attenuator.  

@lalitk please let us know the specific use. It is to load a stepped attenuator? Khozmo attenuator? Shunt style stepped attenuator? Omron relay based Shunt type? Thanks.

Nude Vishay ZFoils are wonderfully resolving, quiet and still pleasing to the ears. They do less editorializing than the other resistors mentioned. You could place Audio Note 2W silver tants in the shunt position.  

Potentially even better is to avoid this question by using the Tortuga LDR based “The ePot.V4”system. Perhaps the best sounding attenuator/control center on the market.  I am just not exactly sure what you are up to.  

The review I mentioned is at:
sw1xad.co.uk

If the link doesn’t work, just google “audio note silver tantalum resistor reviews”

Another option is to use an Intact Audio autoformer.  That is the best sounding attenuator I have tried.  

Transformer/autoformer attenuators do a better job of preserving dynamics and sounding vivid than other types.  Instead of burning off the signal in a resistor, transformers reduce voltage by converting it to increased current.  Because of complexity, transformer volume controls have a limited number of secondary windings, and hence, limited number of volume steps.  Autoformers can offer more steps, and some also offer convenience of remote control and balance adjustment.  A good example, is the one made by Emia.