I think all you've shown is that the Rotel AVR is no better than the little Sonic Impact T-Amp that you have, which is quite frankly not at all surprising.
I think most of the two channel people here (that's almost everyone right?) will tell you that the vast majority of 2-channel systems will embarrass an equivalently priced home theatre set up when reproducing 2 channel music.
My previous statement was that DAC + amplifier combos (HT AVR qualifies) are generally not very good. A reasonable point of view may be that you've just demonstrated that.
I think most of the two channel people here (that's almost everyone right?) will tell you that the vast majority of 2-channel systems will embarrass an equivalently priced home theatre set up when reproducing 2 channel music.
My previous statement was that DAC + amplifier combos (HT AVR qualifies) are generally not very good. A reasonable point of view may be that you've just demonstrated that.