Which is better: separates or receiver?

The room treatment and the cables are all important I think we can all agree on this point. I'm just wondering what are the locations of room treatment products when you are considering five speakers and a sub? When people say room treatment are they only considering an improvement in two channel sound? Are the locations for room treatments the same for five channels and 2 two channel systems? I'm not sure but I think I'm getting confused.

The subject of room treatment is too big for this format, but let me give an overview. Low frequency standing waves need to be addressed. Speaker placement and corner bass traps are effective for this. Early speaker reflections from nearby walls, the ceiling and the floor need to be attenuated. At the same time you must be careful not to overdamp the room. These points apply to 2 channel as well as HT systems. The Stereophile Guide to HT has a series of excellent articles that go into great detail about acoustic problems and their solution.

Onhwy61 ... You are right. My post assumes that the current room is at least acceptable, from a sonic stand point. Tweaking a room can cost a bundle or next to nothing if done creatively. I just feel that dismissing seperates out hand due to a lack of dedicated, highly specialized listening space is short sighted. Sharing a room with other household activities does not preclude making good sound, or even getting more out of said room through changes. Ergo, imho, seperates are still a better bet ... ASSUMING that the current room isn't a sonic basket case.

I am not sure how these product compare sonically at this price level. I will reiterate though the flexibility of seperates. Its great to be able to add or swap one piece giving you a long time value.

I'd have to give the nod to seperates. Purely from an upgradability and sound quality standpoint. While there are a lot of "good" receivers on the market, I don't think you can achieve "really good" power, processing, flexibility and upgradability from just a receiver. Also, I tend to shy away from "multi-channel" amplifiers, such as using only one to power your entire system. What would happen if the amplifier goes on the fritz? You've now lost your entire system. I prefer to stay with seperate 2- or 3-channel amps, (4-channels, if they're going to be bridged), that way if one dies, at least you still can listen to stereo sound by simply doing a quick re-wire of your system, if necessary.