"Always, welcome. No, you haven't misunderstood what you read about separate components, but what you read has no factual basis. Receivers provide us with audibly flawless amplification within their power limits and using two or three separate boxes can't improve on that."
No factual basis? Alan says:
Specifications (distortion, noise, etc.) of preamp-processors and power amps are usually a bit superior to an A/V receiver, since there is better internal physical separation of wiring pathways (more room), hence less chance of interference (and resulting noise) from nearby hum-causing component parts. And having separates also means that you can upgrade to a larger or different power amplifier while keeping your preamp-processor.—A.L.
