I think it would be the best choice for you.
my reason for saying this is because you said you wanted to go the pre-pro route, but you don't have the budget for what you wanted right now. You could decide on an amp brand that you like and start with a 3 channel.
if you wanted to get a receiver and stick with it, my recommendation would be different.
i am a pre-pro person, and personally i think this is the way to go. with the pre pro, the power supply for the amp, is only providing power to the amp boards, in a receiver there is 1 power supply, that is for the amp boards, and ALL the other circuitry in the box. I am of the opinion that the power supplies in the receivers do are not comparable the power supplies of a good amp.
when i got my axioms, i got a mid level receiver, and a 5 channel amp, i really liked this set up. Depending how how much volume your room is, and the sound level you like to have your music/movies will kind of depend on how much power you will need.
I when i moved into my current house, while watching movies, the 5 channel amp would have a few channels go into clip protection from time to time, so i changed to a 3 channel and 2 channel set up for more power.
with all that being said, the "sound quality" will be the same between a receiver amp, and an outboard amp. Both are solid state amps, and will have no appreciable sound difference, the only real difference is the amount of power that they can supply to your speakers.
I would recommend trying to go the balanced interconnect route however this will increase the cost for both components, to get a receiver with XLR outs will be the high end, but you can get an amp with both RCA and XLR and when you get you processor, you can get a processor with XLR outputs. I have tried both RCA and XLR connectors, and there is a difference between the 2 and XLR is definitely better.
i hope this helps explain my reasoning. and also maybe helps you make a decision.
