This receiver centric mania is very strange to say the least. While I fully understand that in many cases it is the best economical alternative and it does usually represent the best alternative for new codecs and formats, to suggest receivers are on par with the acoustical performance of a powerful amp and well implemented pre-amp??

I'm not going to go over the problems with one box solutions again. They are relatively cheap and that is great. I own pioneer, HK, sherwood, and sansui receivers. They all serve a purpose but none of them are great reproducers of quality sound.

They all clip and distort but maybe I'm more sensitive to that than most people. One thing is for sure there is no way anyone with a receiver alone is maximising the performance of the great Axiom speakers like the M80s.

To some it may represent diminishing returns and that is understandable. But in the absense of budgetary considerations it seems rather foolish to ignore the inherent engineering, design and other problems created by not going with separate preamp and amp.

What I find interesting is that once people experience separates the rarely go back and the ones in denial have never used separate components. In any event the axiom amp is not meant to appeal to the "receiver is all you need" crowd. It is clearly aimed at a niche striving for higher quality sound and willing to pay more than receiver prices for the improved performance.

Not meaning to burst any bubbles as I'm sure that there are many applications where a good receiver works just fine. I just don't like to see things blurred. Better quality sound often requires paying up for arguably diminishing levels of performance.

And there is no denying the A1400-8 is a terrific breakthrough amp for those concerned about quality amps and separate components.

John