Sharing front speakers between HT system and listening system.

I should have added I use the HT system daily - it is more or less my main TV even though it is a projector. As such, I don't want to put those kind of hours on the tubes. I'll put up with the inconvenience of switching the cables before taking the Shanling out of the system... as such I don't think the HT Bypass does what I am looking for either. I could run a second set of speaker cables to the maggies and plug/un-plug there as it is a bit more convenient than the back of the power amplifiers. Was hoping someone had good success with a simple passive switchbox that didn't hurt the signal to any noticeable extent. I may experiment as switches and switchboxes are reasonably inexpensive.

You need a two channel preamp or integrated with a home theatre bypass option, along with a home theatre AVR that can output the front channels independently.

This will allow you separate the two systems with as little as two shared cables.

Here is a list of the preamps with a HT bypass capability.

https://www.audiophile.no/en/articles-tests-reviews/item/426-amplifiers-with-processor-input

@audiotroy 

@Tony1954

+1

I use this all the time for comparisons and trouble shooting.  Will do what u need.

https://fosiaudio.com/products/fosi-audio-lc30-amplifier-speaker-switcher

@cleareye2 Exactly what I need. I don't even require the VM's or even the remote control for that matter. But yes, this looks like it would do the trick and is well reviewed from what I can see as not affecting sound quality. Thx. Other replies appreciate also with the preamp suggestion for HT bypass - although I'm seeking to avoid using my tube monoblocks for the HT.