In my view you're not missing anything, Bernard; the engineering facilities of large manufacturers such as Yamaha and the huge quantities that they sell receivers in allow them to be more cost-effective when used as both processors and amplifiers than separate components of similar performance. In some cases this may be true even if a separate amp is added and the receiver is used as a processor, "throwing away" some or all of its amp channels.

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Enjoy the music, not the equipment.