Gunbunny,
Ishoulda read this thread before I just responded to the 5.3 vs 5.0 thread ... so you decided on the 5.3 or are you vacillating? Anyway , on topic ... what I'd do (and did) is add a good quality 2ch amp and use the receiver as the pre, and use its own amps for the center and surrounds. Down the road decide if further improvement in 2ch is preferred (and add a 2ch pre) or multi-ch/surround/HT improvement is what you want (and add prepro & more high quality amp channels). Of course, source improvements help with either at any time. YMMV
Tim
Ishoulda read this thread before I just responded to the 5.3 vs 5.0 thread ... so you decided on the 5.3 or are you vacillating? Anyway , on topic ... what I'd do (and did) is add a good quality 2ch amp and use the receiver as the pre, and use its own amps for the center and surrounds. Down the road decide if further improvement in 2ch is preferred (and add a 2ch pre) or multi-ch/surround/HT improvement is what you want (and add prepro & more high quality amp channels). Of course, source improvements help with either at any time. YMMV
Tim