Here's the sad part for me:
My room is about 2500 cubic feet, and I sit a bit under 9 feet from my mains, which have a rated sensitivity of 99dB w/ 2.83V (realistically closer to 95dB anechoic), and a minimum impedance of 4 ohms per the manufacturer. The situations where I need more than a single watt per channel, even assuming my speakers spend more time at 4 ohms than above, are far and few between. My receiver is THX Select 2 rated, meaning it is specified to deliver a 12.5 ampere peak into a 4 ohm load on the front channels (which equates to 625 watts into 4 ohms).
In spite of all this, I still
want a separate amplifier; and you know, if I do get one, I'm sure I'll hear a night and day difference too