Integrated Amplifier

Guys, you might want to rethink using a tube integrated in a combo 2-channel HT system. You'll be using the tubes all the time, for 2-channel as well as TV/HT. Do you really want to wear out your tubes watching TV? If reduced tube life is not a concern for you, have at it. The tube life would be a concern for me. Plus, I like to leave my amp on most/all the time. Not a good idea with tubes....

@pjpicket - You don't have to have an HT bypass, it's just a minor convenience. You can use any unused analog input, select that input and set the volume of the integrated amp to a pre-defined setting, something like top dead center, etc. Of course, you have to run the setup app on your HT receiver, with the integrated amp in the chain, in order to account for the difference in gain between your integrated and your HT receiver. You also have to run setup if your new integrated amp does have HT bypass.

BTW, I've run a combo 2-channel/HT system on several different system iterations and it worked just fine, with HT bypass, and without.

Given a choice, I would choose the extra (though minor) convenience of having an HT bypass/processor loop. But it's only a minor difference in the convenience.