you are half right, and half wrong..
1st- if you use an external amp, the denon WILL do all the processing and decoding of the source material.. so, as you mentioned, the DTS, Dolby digital EX, etc., will all be decoded and run thru the denons processors. the added amps are just for power only.
2nd- the power levels of the receiver and amp do not 'piggy-back' on each other.. in other words, if the denon is puting out 100 wpc, and you use an amp that puts out 150 wpc, then you will just be putting out the 150w from the amp. you dont 'combine' the two. once you hook up the external amps to their respective channels(fronts, center, surrounds), the amps in the denon will shut down, and just send the source signal to the amp, which will then power it to the speakers.. does that make sense? i hope so.
keep in mind, the 100wpc that the denon is rated, might not be with all channels driven. so, if you get a true 5 or 7 channel dedicated amp, or monoblocks, you will be getting a TRUE 100w or 150w(which ever you get) output to the speakers.
i myself have contemplated getting the marantz 9000 amp, that would give me 150 dedicated to 5 channel.. but as it is, i dont turn it up all the way, so i ask myself , "do i really need it"?
bigjohn
