Quote Originally Posted by RGA
That said, receivers provide multi-featured options many desire - obviously because they sell more. More Caveliers are sold than Rolls Royce and Ferrari too. That doesn't mean the former is better than the latter.
That might be it in a nutshell. The point as I see it is that we all make our choices based on what we know, what we want, and what we can afford. Just because someone shows up to the party in a Cavelier and not a Rolls doesn't mean they won't have a good time. In some terms there is no comparison but on the other hand if they go from point A to B within the limits of the law they can arrive at the same time. Any differences between them may not matter, and neither one is "junk" to the passenger happy to be able to show up on time and enjoy the party.

I guess more people are casual listeners rather than critical listeners most of the time. You sometimes make the differences between receivers and seperates seem like night and day when that is not the case. More people suffer from acoustic compromises in their room that even the "best" gear won't remedy. I know I do. If I can't take the Ferrari out of the parking lot what's the point? There's a lot more to good sound than equiptment, and to some of us want more from our equiptment than just good sound [i.e. lots of options at an affordable price].

I can't imagine my dream system without seperates, but now I think I'd be giving up too much technology to have seperates that are affordable. The amp would cost more than my receiver, and the processor would be a lot more than that. I may have paid a quarter of the price, but I'm having almost all the fun.