Seperating 2 channel and HT in the same system.

Joew, to add a high quality two channel pre to a hometheater system is pretty easy, I will try to explain. You can add a tube/SS/passive pre of your choice, hook up is the same for each. Some pre-amps have a hometheater pass through input for more ease of set up, if you have one of these, this would be your input for R/L front preouts from your pre/pro. If your two channel pre does not have this, you can use any of its line inputs, Your two channel pre will need at least two sets of inputs: one for your CDP, and one for your pre/pro, you can switch between source on that unit. You can have as many source as you have inputs. All of these source will input to your two channel pre and thus bypass pre/pro. Unity gain is the point on your two channel volume control where it adds no gain to the sources input signal, your pre/pro will control volume for movies as it always does once you are set up. If your new two channel preamp does not have hometheater pass through then you will need this point on your volume control, with a passive pre you would use volume all the way up for unity gain. For an active pre most people use 12 O'clock setting on volume control. I guess you could say that this would be the harder way to achieve hometheater pass through, It does work fine and this is the way I have my passive pre hooked into my hometheater. Here is the hook up: Hook any source you do not want to run through your pre/pro to the new pre, you will not need your pre/pro turned on to play these source. Hook your front L/R pre-outs from your pre/pro to your new pre, set volume control for unity gain. Go into setup on your pre/pro and set overall volume with spl meter just like you did when you first setup your pre/pro. When you watch a movie you would always return your two channel pre's volume setting to unity gain setting as this is the point you will have set overall volume with pre/pro. Your front channel amp will now get it's input from the two channel pre and not the pre/pro. I may have made this sound hard to do, (It's not) It's harder to explain than it is to do.

I understand perfectly. It is as I had hoped. So, in essence, all I need is a preamp with HT passthrough (not necessary but convenient) and a fair to average pre/pro for movies (how bad can you screw up DD, 5.1 etc).

You have been a huge help. Thanks again!

One note Joew, you would always need to remember to turn the volume control back down before switching inputs on the two channel pre from movie to other source.

So probably the best idea would be to have a tiny stick-on marker to delineate the pre-calibrated volume level when using the HT pass through?

If you use pre-amp without pass through input you could do that. In my setup I use a Bent audio passive unit for two channel and sunfire theatergrand pre/pro, unity gain with the Bent passive is: volume all the way up, I have to remember to turn it down before I switch inputs for sacd. If you get a pre with theater pass through you won't have to do this. I wanted the pre that I wanted so I chose to put up with this little pain in my system. Lots of good pre's have the theater pass through now a days (tube and SS) so that is the easy way to go.