Great thread . Could have used it when I was struggling thorugh the same issue. Here's what I ended up doing (and it works great for me).
First some basics: I have an EAD Signature 5.1 pre/pro with no analog bypass, a Lamm L1 preamp (no bypass again) and an EAD PM2000 amp which has both SE and XLR inputs for the front two speakers.
When listening to my CD's, I don't even turn my EAD pre/pro on! The CD is connected to the Lamm direct inputs and out from the Lamm via XLR connections to the amp. I simply toggle my amp to balanced and voila - music.
When in HT, I don't turn my Lamm on, as the DVD is connected to the EAD pre/pro. which in turn is connected to the EAD amp via single ended connections. All I have to do is toggle back the amp to SE mode. The only watch out is to set the gains for the various channels appropriately, but I only have to do this once.
The only "hassle" is the toggling of the switches from SE to XLR and vice versa, but given my setup, that takes 5 seconds. (And the Lamm is to die for - I had the LL2 before, but the L1 ahhhhh!).
Bottom line, I think is that there are several ways to make this work, with bypass being the easiest as discussed before, but if you really want to go another way (say for equipment like/dislike purposes), there are ways.
BTW, I too have got rid of my rear speakers; thought they were a waste. So all I have are my fronts, the center channel and a sub.
Good luck.
First some basics: I have an EAD Signature 5.1 pre/pro with no analog bypass, a Lamm L1 preamp (no bypass again) and an EAD PM2000 amp which has both SE and XLR inputs for the front two speakers.
When listening to my CD's, I don't even turn my EAD pre/pro on! The CD is connected to the Lamm direct inputs and out from the Lamm via XLR connections to the amp. I simply toggle my amp to balanced and voila - music.
When in HT, I don't turn my Lamm on, as the DVD is connected to the EAD pre/pro. which in turn is connected to the EAD amp via single ended connections. All I have to do is toggle back the amp to SE mode. The only watch out is to set the gains for the various channels appropriately, but I only have to do this once.
The only "hassle" is the toggling of the switches from SE to XLR and vice versa, but given my setup, that takes 5 seconds. (And the Lamm is to die for - I had the LL2 before, but the L1 ahhhhh!).
Bottom line, I think is that there are several ways to make this work, with bypass being the easiest as discussed before, but if you really want to go another way (say for equipment like/dislike purposes), there are ways.
BTW, I too have got rid of my rear speakers; thought they were a waste. So all I have are my fronts, the center channel and a sub.
Good luck.