i think the people that down talking the pro amps are doing it either out of ignorance, or snobbery. If you go to crowns website, there are a couple video's of them torture testing a certain line of their amps, every amp goes through the same test, if i remember correctly, each amp goes though 4 or 6 different tests before it is allowed to be sold. One of these tests is a signal to noise test.. i do think that this line is their most expensive amps though.
I would say, if you are not driving your receiver into clipping, then realistically you do not need more power.
So, does your system currently play loud enough for you? have you ever driven the Pioneer into clipping on several channels?
if your answers are yes and no. Then i would tell you to save your money.
However, If you want to i would say there is absolutely nothing wrong with using a pro amp. I also think that going this route is the most cost efficient way to get more power.
