How to merge my 2 Channel and HT Systems?


OK, I have downsized to a smaller condo and no longer have the luxury of a dedicated music system in one room and a full HT setup in another. I really would like to keep at least my Plinius SA 102 to power my Joseph Audio RM25si's for music (Thorens turntable, Theta Miles CD player, and maybe FLAC streamed over network) while using my preamp (Anthem) for both and power amp (B&K) to power the rest of the system when listening to HT. Is it possible to merge my two systems so the Plinius drives the Joseph Audio's for music and HT and the rest of the system kicks in for HT?
moto_man
Does your Anthem has 7.1 output? If it does, I would connect the LF and RF to one of the input on your Plininus. This way, you can use the Plinius in both 2ch and HT. If the Anthem does NOT have the 7.1 output, I would connect the 7.1 LF and RF outputs from your DVD/Bluray player to the Plininus. Same concepts.

QN
I do it as follows:

Surround processor to the "unity gain" input on stereo preamp. The sub is on the LFE output from the processor. I run two channel as full signal with no subs. For HT, I hit one button on the preamp remote to change from the two channel input port to the "unity gain" port.

Wyred 4 Sound sells a stereo preamp with an even easier HT bypass that lets you run the subs in both modes. I only changed from it because the BAT preamp sounded better in two channel.
Moto Man

I have done this for years. I have the stereo outs from the processor go into a tube preamp. The tube preamp has two sets of outputs, one connected to the multichannel amp and one connected to tube mono blocks. The preamp is set to unity gain when listening to surround sound. When I listen to stereo you do have to switch speaker cables from the surround sound amp to the tube mono blocks and make sure the surround sound amp is turned off as my speakers do not have two sets of connectors. To some people this may be a pain in the rear but works for me.

I really do not have another choice as the room is too small to have two separate setups.
I've done it successfully. You will need to spend some money on a really good pre/pro that won't compromise the sound. Krell HTS 7.1 sounds really good as an analog pre-amp, so that's the route I went.
I looked up the Anthem Preamps and it looks as if they all have a loop through or unity gain so an external processor can be add and control the volume. As long as your intergrated A/V pro has either a line level output or you are using an A/V processor with seperate amps you should be fine. This would be easier if you include the MODEL numbers of all your equipment so manuals can be looked at.