Rodney like most things in audio(or video) for that matter there are compromises to make and its useful to know what they are in order to make informed decisions. There are pros and cons with owning separates or integrated receivers. I've owned many of both. currently using an integrated in a 5.1 system around a TV dispay, separates in my 7.2 HT , and separates in my stereo setup.
There is alot of great gear available but generally speaking except for the higher end integrateds, sonic quality is better in separates for two main reasons. Firstly, when housed in one box the large magnetic field from the amplifier does create low level signal interference even with shielding. Indeed shielding can only go so far to lowering noise or eliminating signal interation. Secondly, heat negatively effects all electronic devices and causes wear and tear. By design there is always going to be more heat generated inside one integrated box. Performance is bound to suffer because of the complex signal interactions you get from all the functions jammed inside one box.
On the other hand its tough to beat the value of buying a box containing an amp, processor and tuner with the latest codecs and formats. Integrated are the only real option if your budget is less than $1,000. If bang for the buck is the objective, integrateds win hands down. Moreover in some applications, such as my TV room, integrateds are more space efficient. And over the years the gap between separates and integrateds has narrowed with better technology and RF limiting designs.
But from the perspective of what will give you the best performance, integrateds will not be able to overcome the advantage which separates will always have of mixing and matching more precisely the requirments of your components. In my experience all speakers, including the Axiom floorstanders, benefit from increased amplification. Call it better resolution or dynamic range, call it better transparency, they always sound better from having more power available on reserve for sudden loud transients. Integrateds are most limited by the size of their amplifiers and inherently more signal noise compared to separates.
