Not necessarily, Dean. Keep in mind that when a receiver spec says something like 7x120 watts, that doesn't mean that the rating was with all seven simultaneously driven at full power. If language such as "all channels driven" isn't used, it's to be understood that the rating was with two channels driven. But as I said above, Denon and some others have tested out with all channels fairly close to the two channel rating. Again, my view is that all channels simultaneously at full power rarely happens outside test labs, but someone with a different view should consider buying a receiver rated with all channels driven or should buy only units that have published lab tests showing high all channel numbers. For example, a very inexpensive receiver that I've owned for some time was rated at 75 watts with two channels driven, but tested well above that number and at 71 watts even with all seven channels driven. Plenty of power with even my most dynamic classical recordings.
I've mentioned before that my Denon AVR-3300 is rated at 110x5 (I think?) but actually starts to clip the signal at 84 watts, according to HT Mag. On the other hand, my QSC pro amp has not clipped yet (accoridng to lights!) and can easily triple the power output.
As for pro amps, I will warn that many lack RCA inputs, so you need XLR converters if you don't have a separate pre-amp. Not a big deal in theory, but my first proamp (Crown) made noise when using the RCA to XLR convertors. Just a word of caution. Also, be careful of the noise specs on the pro amps. The Crown I had had a S/N of something like 91 or something like that, and I could hear hiss in background. My QSC is around 100 and I don't notice a hint of noise even in dead quiet passages. For a reference point, QSC's THX amps are around >105 I think.
