It depends who you ask. Guys with receivers reccomend those, and guys with seperates tend to like that set up. My take has been that if you enjoy music more than movies, go with pre pro and amp. Pre pros tend to have less features relating to video and hdtv and hdmi. Receivers have many "features"
that make them attractive to videoaholics. I am 90% music and 10% movies. My prepro is very simple and easy to use and navigate. A few years ago I had a Pioneer Elite receiver and frankly it was a bulky, complicated machine.
Receiver manufacturers can keep up with the "new" must have technology curve that changes every 18 months, whereas the smaller prepro companies generally can't turn around that quick. I noticed that the Emotiva prepro you list doesn't have HDMI switching. There are many here that would recoil in horror if a machine couldn't handle their hdmi needs. Me, I could care less, my TV doesn't have it, and I watch standard dvds for movies, in 5.1 no less
.
So. If you like movies, and have hdmi hdtv needs, get a receiver, there is tons of advise here in that regard. Many here add an amp to the receiver and feel like they get the best of both worlds. If you like music and having seperate components, as I do, get a pre pro. That is my opinon.
One final note......not sure what your budget is, but if you are cost conscious, used amps are a much much more economical way of getting your wattage, imho. Here is a link to
my systems cost break down, notice the price of the amps, used vs new.......and know there is no sound difference whatsoever between the used and new.....at least in my rig. HTH
