Crash,

For those audiophiles who listen to music only (i.e., a stereo or 2 channel format), they buy a separate preamp and amplifier(s), They don't bother with receivers. (Side: Yes, I'm deliberately leaving out integrated amps just to keep this discussion on point.)

For those true audiophiles who want a home theater arrangement, they buy separates as well, only they buy a Surround Sound Processor like the Marantz AV8003 that Peabody mentioned, and accompanying power amplifier(s). The surround processor is what decodes the AV signal sent to it by the various source components (DVD player, Blu Ray player, etc.). The power amplifier receives the info from the processor and sends it to your speakers.

Power amps can have one channel, aka, a "monoblock" format (by channel we mean speaker connections, more or less) or as 7 or more channels, aka a "multichannel" format. For simplicity's sake, most AV audiophiles will buy either a 5 channel amp or a 7 channel amp for the fronts, center, and rear/side surround effect speakers.

A receiver is basically the Surround Processor and Power Amps all in one box. Much of the issues that audiophiles have with receivers stems from the fact that cramming all of these components into one unit inevitably results in some sacrifices in sound quality. I think everyone will agree that is a truism across the board.

That said, as mentioned in my earlier post, there are some great quality receivers that even the most devout audiophiles will tip their hat to. We've mentioned quite a few manufacturers, from Anthem (Sonic Frontiers) to Cambridge Audio to B&K to Rotel to Arcam and on and on.

Bringing the discussion more into our common man's sphere, Onkyo, Pioneer Elite, Marantz, Yamaha, Denon... all manufacture some of the best AV receivers on the market. While the hand wringing is appropriate, I don't think you can go far wrong picking a solidly performing AV receiver, if your budget doesn't allow for an AV separates set up.