I was wondering if I was to purchase an A/V Receiver and then later down the line add an amp to it would the sound quality be an different than using separates? Are there any advantages of an AVR as a Pre/Pro besides being able to use it right away and upgrade to a dedicated power supply sometime down the line if needed?
I know the Pioneer Elite SC-61 is a 7.2 channel A/V Receiver that is actually already rated down to 4 ohms and has Pre Outs for all channels, not just the front two. And that starts around $1,100. That is the first one price wise in their line up that has Pre Outs for all channels. Marantz does not say that they are rated to 4ohms as far as I was able to see but I have heard other people say they are.
Let's say -
(AV receiver with pre-out + Power amp) - Package1
(AV processor + Power amp) - Package2 (also called as seperates)
A very tough to answer what could be the difference between package-1 and Package-2 in terms of performance. Generally, seperates (package2) are considered for high end users (like musicians or people who are extreme audiohiles). Since they are considered to be for high end users, they tend to have a very high quality components in the making of the AV processors. For example, AV processor will have high cost DSP chips/better videos upscale hardware. That is why you can see the least price of any AV processor is almost equal to the price of a top end AV receiver.
Now - this is what how companies market Package2 calling them as Elite.
In reality, I some how get a feeling that both Package-1 and Package-2 will be almost same in performance (that is what I feel). Even then, a normal audiophile may not be able to say any difference between the sounda quaity of Package-1 and Package-2. Some people say there is no point in spending too much money when there is no any appreciable gain in the sound quality. That is, beyond some price point, there is no any significant difference in the performance. From that context, both Package-1 and Package-2 should sound the same. What I have found is that most of the AV processors (in package2) have more conectivity options than an AV receiver (in package1). For example, the number of zones, HDMI inputs/outputs, etc.
And anothe thing about the Pioneer Ekite SC-61 (having a pre-out) costing around $1100. I do see other brands offering pre-outs for all the 7.1 channels with a price much lower than that. That is, in case if you want to go for package1, then you can go for a minimum budget AV receiver which has pre-outs for all the channels. In case if you are going only for a pure AV receiver (without the additional power amp), then probably Pioneer Elire SC-61 might be offering better power/impedance combination.