I use my preamp's bypass when watching movies. The bypass function allows my mono-amps to drive my front speakers and my 3-channel amplifier to drive my center and rears when watching movies. My preamp is used in my 2-channel, when I'm not watching movies. I don't get your comments, "So why does anybody use a bypass component it's just another piece of hardware along the signal chain?" Bypass simply allows the "main" amplifier to drive the front speakers and the processor to control the volume.
Preamp used in HT bypass - Signal degrade??
Is it a good idea to put a preamplifier between a Home Theater processor and your amplifiers? Initially I thought it might be good to benefit from whatever the pre-amplifier may offer but if you got a very good processor it may be pointless and detrimental.
I tried it for a while and I think passing signal through a preamplifier tends to limit some detail. It's like removing a restrictive conditioner from the power cord. Is this the case or am I imagining things? It may sound a lot clearer and open and including the preamplifier may not be a good thing. So why does anybody use a bypass component it's just another piece of hardware along the signal chain? Maybe it's a trade-off for the convenience.