I have listened to many different speakers. I cannot say I have listened to any other amps. Receivers certainly and I can tell you there are audible differences between them even in two channel. Receiver sound processing capability varies from one manufacturer to another and even between models. My Onkyo TX-NR818 was an incredible upgrade for my v2. Unfortunately for most it has a bad rap due to HDMI board problems which were fixed on mine and they re-capped and gave me a new transformer to boot. smile

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