Biggest impact: moving from integrated to separates

Given you can use your Cronus as an amplifier and it mates well with your current speakers I agree that you should look for a line stage preamp at this point.  

I'm in the camp of @robd2 and @missioncoonery

I think part of the feeling regarding the superiority of separates reflects a lack of integrateds on the same level.  The majority of integrated amplifiers on the market fall into the entry level of a manufacturer's lineup.  I've owned upper echelon separates, and certainly understand how strongly those components perform, and still own some of them.  However, in the end, the combination of musicality, control, muscle, and sweetness of my Jadis DA60 integrated has brought me the most happiness of any amplification I've found.  And the convenience of everything sitting on a single chassis and the nullification of purchasing another set of interconnects, a power cord, and the matching of the two components synergistically certainly doesn't make life any more difficult

asp307 12-19-2017
I am not looking to upgrade both amp and line stage at this point, just one or the other with the next upgrade probably occurring next year. I can continue using the Cronus Magnum either as a line stage or amp so I have flexibility.

If I’m not mistaken none of the versions of the Cronus Magnum provide either an input to the amplifier section or a means of disabling the amplifier section.

Which means that if you were to use it as a line stage you would have to put load resistors having high power handling capability onto its speaker output terminals. As you may be aware, running a tube amp which has output transformers in an unloaded condition can cause damage to both the transformers and the output tubes, especially if the amp is processing a signal.

And if you were to use the CM as an amp, I believe you would have to have its line stage in series with the new line stage you would be purchasing. That would work, but it would probably negate the benefits of the upgrade. Although I realize it would only be a temporary arrangement.

Good luck. Regards,
-- Al

@almarg , very good points that I have not considered. I guess as I assumed I can use my XP-15 Phono pre, that I would be able to do this with other separates (line and amp) and ween myself off of my CM. This has given me pause and I’ll need to do some more homework. 

@trelja @mesch @missioncoonery @keithtexas @twoleftears @robd2 thanks for your feedback and I’ll keep you posted on how I get on..

Hi @almarg , just spoke with Rogue Audio. I figured I'd follow up.

Here's what they say:

  "You can use the version 1 Cronus just as an amplifier. The way to do this is to connect the outputs of your preamplifier to the variable output of the Cronus. I know this sounds wrong connecting an output to another output, but doing this will bypass the front end of the Cronus and feed the signal straight to the amplifier portion of the Cronus."

Cheers