Line Magnetic 805ia vs high end seperates

blkwrxwgn,

I have same issue with HT pass thru although the tubes in my LTA last a bit longer. My 2cents would be to add two in wall fronts and just run the avr for non music listening and call it a day. 

+1 @jond 

I also ask this because I have a set of Joseph Audio speakers too that the LM doesn't push hard enough.

I feel your pain big time brutha!  Big JA fan and I too couldn’t stand watching those pricey tubes burn away while watching Two and a Half Men reruns (which JA speaks do you have BTW?).  But I also know your LM amp is pretty amazing, especially for the price.  I’d do the tube pre and sadly sell the LM unless you don’t mind switching it in and out for 2-channel listening (something I’d seriously consider doing if I was you, but I’m kinda nutty that way).  There are some tube preamps that don’t power the tubes when in HT mode (Rogue, VAC, Backert maybe?), but they’re few and far between and who knows if those few would be your cuppa. But preamp tubes don’t tend to be as pricey and last a lot longer so maybe that’s not even an issue for you (It’d still grind my gears knowing I’m burning tubes to watch movies/TV, but I have issues that way).  I’ve now even confused myself and probably helped you even less.  Use the Cherry, get the CJ pre you know you want, and enjoy the crap outta the JA speakers as a bonus.  Preamp tubes be damned.  Life’s too short.  Go for it!

I think the plan is a sound one though I suspect you will end up replacing your Class D amp with another tube amp before long.

I have a Luxman CL38Use tube preamp and a Krell Showcase surround sound preamp. Don't need HT passthrough. W/my Bryston 3B cube amp I connect the unbalanced outputs to the tubed Luxman and the balanced outputs to the Krell processor. I just flip the switch on the amp depending on what preamp I'm using. 

805 and 300b tubes are a bit expensive for HT use......

I also ask this because I have a set of Joseph Audio speakers too that the LM doesn't push hard enough.

I use my tube amp for HT.  Love it.  I don't worry about the cost of the tubes.  

I live near the beach and don't have air conditioning.  So in the summer, a high heat amp isn't for me.  I have an Ayon with 4x 6c33C, about 400 watts of heat.  Had to replace it.  So now I have a Decware zma.  170 watts or so. 

BTW, you don't need an HT bypass on your amp if you have a preamp.  I turn my ZMA all the way up and it becomes an amp with multiple inputs and each one is equivalent to "HT bypass".  For HT, the HT reciever is the preamp. for music my DAC functions as the preamp.

There are a lot of upgrade opportunities from the LM.  There is a nice sophia that was just listed on another site (it won't last long). 

Jerry

I would not sell the LM Audio. It’s a great unit. I would keep it and get a tube preamp to try the new setup. See if you like it after awhile. I noticed that my LM Audio 216i (push/pull) got a little hot. I built a small wooden open enclosure, like a small table and it fits over top of the amp, I cut 2 squares in the top about 4 inches by 4 inches and placed two quiet fans inside which draw air and heat away from the tubes. If you look at my system with the Tekton speakers you can see it. Good luck.

My preamp has an AVR bypass so when it is off the AVR channel goes straight through.
If two channel is only a few times a week, then you manually swap cables, say at the amp? Not ideal, but it might be possible.