Home Theater Bypass , why am I hearing this now.

Wow when I first step seeing some of these responses I was lasting to myself this is what others talk about when they lol audiophiles snobs. Glad to see there are others feel the same as me. I know my setup is good but not as good many on this board. But I believe I did a good job of setting up my 2 channel and then taking care of Home Theater.  Who ever said what is the difference in having a pre with HTBP than just a pre is right.  There really isn’t. Make that sound the best you can do/afford and then add rest.  

The important point is it’s more than doable and there are a lot of options depending on budget.  

I’ve had an a separate amp / pre with HT bypass in the chain with my HT receiver.  I’ve swapped Front speakers, streamers / Streamers around.  I’ve had a class D amplification in my HT receiver and paired it with a much more powerful class A/B amp that costs multiple times the receiver which was not a cheap receiver.  
Today I have an integrated Tube Amp - Primaluna Evo400 (2 Channel w/Hat Bypass) paired with an Anthem MRX-1140.  It pairs well for movies, no issues at all with integration of the Tube amp into my HT set up.  2 channel is the flip of a switch and I’m in 2 channel tube heaven.  
In every set up I have tried and combo the 3 constants I have had are no issues with the integration of the pieces - HT receivers auto calibration tools can work wonders on that front, that the separate amplification / pre for 2 channel always has sounded quite a bit better than the HT Receiver for 2 channel and adding a separate amp to the mix improved the surround sound of the receiver, opened up more power for the other channels.  Key that the HT receiver is totally out of the 2 channel chain, I’ve tried it as a Pre to separate amps and doesn’t deliver the same 2 channel performance, even with direct analogue pass through - unsure why.  
I 100 % agree with Big Greg on how awesome a Movie experience can be with a HT set up.  I watched John Wick 3 last night in Dolby Atmos and it was an experience.  You can’t get that without the HT set up, period.  I felt shot gun blast, felt like I was in the rain storm and that I needed to wipe off the broken glass that had sprayed in my direction.  And then I flipped a switch and enjoyed a little 2 channel listening before calling it an evening. 
What you can argue is that if I took all the money I have into the 2 channel gear over the years or vice versa, the HT gear, if I applied all those funds to one or the other I would have an even better set up for whichever I picked, as long as I selected the right gear.  I love HT and 2 Channel listening and I have 1 space for both and I still am quite happy with the results for both.  

I read that Classe is coming out with a processor that replaces the/my SSP-800. The ISP A/V.No info or ETA yet but I'm hoping it has the best of both worlds. A Delta Pre 2 channel digital bypass/pass through with a better than SSP-800 surround circuitry. Could be amazing.

I too wanted surround sound" for movies/tv audio and possibly occasional audio use. It's tricky and def a compromise when trying to keep your two channel audio system intact. After a lot of homework I managed to keep my main system and add surround. I have Harbeth SLH5 + as the main fronts and an REL s510 as an audio subwoofer, and a pair of SVS 3000for video subwoofer. I added a denon surrond series integrated amplifier. Took the TV audio out to th eDenon optical input, then the front channel out from the Denon to the Home Theater Bypass input on my Pass re-amp. Took an RCA output from the preamp to the RCA input on the Pass 250.8 amp- that gives me as clean a front channel audio for surround as I can get. Then I run center and rear speakers off of the Denon's powered speaker outputs. When I listen to a movie in surround sound I flip on the HT bypass inout (and turn on the Denon) on the Pass Pre-amp- the front channel audio is running thru my Harbeths and the other channels are coming from the Denon. When I want pure 2 channel audio I just select my normal audio input on the pre amp and it no longer is playing the source fed to it from the Denon. In my case I got lucky- the Pass amp has BOTH balanced and RCA inputs that are "live" at the same time- I run balanced outputs from the Pass pre-amp to the balanced inputs on the Pass amp (for my audio playback), leaving the RCA's coming from the Pass Pre-amp (it has both RCA and Balanced outputs) hardwired to the RCA inputs on the Pass Amp. It's take another paragraph to explain the three subwoofer set up too but it all works seamlessly. 

PS Audio Stellar integrated amp has HTBP, which would allow you to stream Tidal. It is great.   But I warn you, I have been down this exact same route.   I ended up just sticking with an upgrade to my power amp (ps audio S300) and I use the HT receiver more like a pre amp.  Apple TV is the main source for everything.  Works fine for now. 
I have tried all sorts of upgrades in the electronics and not been convinced that they are better.  My rule is if you have to squint real hard to hear a difference , it is not worth the money.  
 I have come to the conclusion that  for me, there is no point in upgrading my system until I get better  L/R speakers.  I currently use JBL 590’s and they are great for what they are.  But all these upgrades I tried cannot be heard through them.  

So I suggest thinking also about the speaker situation.