I totally agree with you, separates make a big difference for a 2 channel stereo, while not so much for Home Theater. Anyway, I am probably not in a position to really give a decent opinion, since I have a great stereo system but a bad HT (HTIB, and yes... shame on me). So, please consider only the first part of my above statement ;-)

Axiom M60s, QS4s, VP100 Onkyo TX-SR804 Oppo 970HD Rotel RB-1080/RCD-1072 REL Q150E sub, PS 3