Most any power amp will wipe the floor with most any receiver. Power amps are designed with one thing in mind.. power (duh)!

The transformer in the power amp probably weighs as much as the entire receiver does. More iron means more available power to the speakers. Toroids are a different animal.

Likewise, all that available power is devoted full time to two power amps only. No sharing bewteen a tuner, processor and 5 (or 6) power amps.

The best of both worlds, economically speaking, is to have a receiver of moderate power but full features driving separate power amps. Sounds like you're on the right track.

P.S... Guess what? This post promoted me to a senior member. Does this entitle me to any discounts?