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tube amp for home theater AND 2 channel?

I posted a while back about how I was trying to do 2 separate systems in 1 room. One multichannel for home theater/gaming and 1 tube system for 2 channel. I think I decided that doing 2 separate systems is too much for me now, so I’m going to dial it back down to one system: Onkyo AVR, Monolith 5 channel amp, Klipsch La Scala for the mains and probably some other klipsch heritage speakers for center and rears.

Part of the hesitation about getting rid of the dedicated 2 channel system was that would mean probably not using a tube amp, something I’d wanted to try for a very long time.

But today I thought, what’s stopping me from using a 2 channel tube amp connected to the AVR pre-outs for Left and Right mains? Then....when I go Pure Audio or Direct thru the AVR from the Bluesound node, I would still get the benefit of tubes into the La Scalas, something I’ve wanted for a long time.

But....this tube amp would then be hooked up the whole time watching movies and playing games. Is this an issue? Is there any downside to this? I’m probably in the range of $1500-$2k for a tube amp. if I have a tube amp on for 5-6-7 hours playing games or watching movies, am I going to be drowning in tube costs?

128x128johns21
soix
8,768 posts
 

Using a tube amp for TV and HT is utter madness and a waste of tubes IMHO.  You don’t need tubes to watch friggin’ TV.  If I’m you, I’d use solid state stuff for watching movies/TV and just switch in the tube stuff when I wanna get serious about listening to 2 channel.  There are some tube preamps I think from VAC, Backert, and Rogue that may deactivate the tubes when in HT bypass mode,but they’re few and far between and will get you some tube magic, but the tube amp thing is a non starter for me.  Burning amp tubes for TV?  No way!!!  Best of luck. 

carlsbad's avatar
carlsbad
1,551 posts
 

I’m running tube amp 2 channel I’m also running 7.2 channel HT and the tube amp powers the 2 front channels. I just run pre-out from my HT reciever to a spare input on my tube amp. This is the basic premise of HT bypass.

I really don’t see why any tube amp user would do anything different.

Jerry

holmz's avatar
holmz
2,328 posts
 

I’m running tube amp 2 channel I’m also running 7.2 channel HT and the tube amp powers the 2 front channels. I just run pre-out from my HT receiver to a spare input on my tube amp. This is the basic premise of HT bypass.

I really don’t see why any tube amp user would do anything different.

Jerry

^Similar here^.

Just if one is starting from scratch, then one may prefer a tube preamp and then some other (SS) amp for what is predominantly HT in terms ofd hours/day or hours/year.
Or buy a spare set of tubes up front.
Or get a tube amp that is friendly on tubes.

But those speakers should not be too power hungry.

nevada_matt
155 posts
 

Carver Black Magic 25. $1995. 5 year warranty and very generous return policy if you don’t like it within 30 days. Plus 5 year trade up value if you want more power..

Sound really good paired with Tekton Double Impact SE (bi amped) with A760x SS for lower.

 

erik_squires
15,807 posts
 

Lots of modern pres have a HT bypass mode

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