Stereo Guy - Need advice on HT integration

^^^ @bdgregory  is correct. The HT passthrough is a feature on a stereo preamp that allows you to use your stereo speakers and amp(s) as front mains in a 5.1 HT setup. If you do not plan to use your JE amps in the 5.1 setup, there would be no reason to do this.

However, driving one pair of speakers with two different amplifiers (one for audio, one for HT) can be a tricky setup. It can easily lead to speaker/amplifier damage if not carefully done.

To do this right, I would think that you would have to switch your speaker cables from your JE amps to the HT Receiver when switching to HT, and then back to the JE amps when listening to stereo.

+1 jmc and bdgreg. A stereo pre configured the way they said with a decent AVR is absolutely the way to go if 2-channel music is the priority.  You can use any stereo pre, and if it doesn't have a HT bypass you can use any open input and just set a reference level (I used 12:00 to make it easy) so the front L/R speakers have the proper volume set for HT.  Shame to spend tubes on HT (unless they’re really cheap to replace), so I’d probably be in the camp of disconnecting the Joules and hooking up to the AVR for HT duties.

Obviously you’ll need an AVR with preamp outs for this to work. I’m in the process of getting one of these too, and FWIW I’m getting the Yamaha Aventage 870 from accessories4less for $650. I think Yamaha has the best combination of features, performance, reliability, and value. Best of luck.

Once again, thanks to all.

I see the general shape of a solution with a stereo pre plus separate HT processor.  The difficulty is whether using the joule tube amplifier for HT makes sense.  As much as I love the tubes, perhaps best to think of a transistor amp that matches well with the Avalons for 2 channel and will also serve as HT main amplifiers.  In my family, I cannot see switching between amps a viable solution.

Since you need a stereo preamp too, maybe a higher-end integrated amp might be a simple and elegant solution?  There's a Plinius Hiato available here now that would probably sound great with your speakers, and it has a HT bypass for convenience.  But if it's me (and obviously it's not), there's also a Vitus RI-100 available that would be tripping my radar hard.  Just a couple thoughts FWIW.