Analogue only preamp ideas? - no need for internal DAC!

Because my avr is now sharing stereo and ht duties, and would like to pursue better SQ for stereo with convenience of a home theater bypass feature, which seems only possible with a stereo preamp.

Never go wrong with a Mac. BUT that is an expensive jump for sure..
Never heard a C70, I own a few of Macs other preamps, though.
Wonderful gear and it’s a Mac.. plane and simple...
The C70 has no Dac? hmmm!

Regards

Have you posed this question in the amplifier forum?
I haven’t bought a preamp in a while.  I have a tubed Cary Preamp which I like to pair with a Parasound JC power amp that drives my B&W 803Ds.  I like the depth of soundstage and sense of air around the instruments and the enhanced colors of the Orchestral instruments compared to my Parasound Solid State preamp, but the Parasound JC preamp is really quiet and controls the lowest end bass a bit better.
  Defining a budget would help.  Audio Research came out with a new preamp but 15K may be more than your budget.  Vincent, Rouge Audio,Prima Luna make tubed pre amps in the 1.5-3K range.  

The McIntosh C70 is awesome but doesn’t offer home theater pass through.  Same issue with the C22.  
If you want HT Passthrough with a tube stage, check out the AVM PA 5.2.  It is in the same price range as the C22 at $5495.  They offer a phono card that you can add for $600 if you wanted a phono stage added to it.  This can be done at a later date.  German made, AVM offer superb build quality and incredible sound.  
Rogue is also a fine choice and I know they offer pass through.  The RP7 or RP9 would do a wonderful job in your system.  The RP7 is $5K, I forget the price on the RP9.  
I am an AVM dealer.  I have no relationship with Rogue, just am a fan of the brand. 

I think tubes are better than a preamp with a dac.

dont understand why someone who has a great standalone dac would buy a preamp with a dac.  Spend more dollars toward a preamp without a dac and it seems tube device is just better.

concerned about tube maintenance and long warm up period, need to learn more

thanks.