As I've said somewhere else on these boards, anyone who is listening at 4W nominal, is kidding themselves if they use an integrated receiver. An A1400 is an absolute must! But, for someone like me, that listens at a half watt nominal the large majority of the time, separates would be a waste of money.

I think a lot of it has to do with the room and distance from the speakers. If the room is highly damped and you are sitting far back from your speakers (say, more than eight feet), you will need more than a half watt. Even in my relatively bright room, if I stand 15 feet back, I need to turn it way up and I'm sure (although I've never tested) that I could benefit from high power. But I sit 8 feet away. A watt nominal is darned plenty. As a matter of fact, if I turn it up too loud, my room dynamics blur the sound.

So far, the only empirical data I have is my boombox/Denon test. But I remain open to the idea of being proved wrong. I'm still waiting to get together with my buddy so that we can listen to his 300W into 4 Ohm Sansui through my 80s and compare to the Denon at the same SPL. And I also want to test using his Sansui massive pre-amp too. And then I want to take my 80s to his place (which is highly damped) and compare there too.

House of the Rising Sone
Out in the mid or far field
Dedicated mid-woofers are over-rated