I understand the logic. My point was that if the THD isn't as good as an Audio Source amp, my mistake on writing Sound Source, and they don't give specs on the phono section perhaps other specs aren't very good as well.
I agree that the THD spec isn't a great way to determine sound quality. Years ago, an audio engineer I worked for used to laugh at the Dr.'s and Lawyers who came in to his shop for mods and repairs. I remember him saying "They can't hear the difference between .001% distortion and .0001%.
Yes, if I go with an AVR I'd like to send the preamp out to a 2 ch setup. But, then I have to contend with what the AVR adds or detracts from the original signal wouldn't I?