My Pioneer Elite receiver goes thru an STI 500 Wyred 4 Sound integrated amp with an HT bypass for movies, and I feed the integrated directly for 2 channel. Also, used a Rotel 1095 as the amp and the Pioneer as a preamp for a while. Both hookups worked great. In fact I'm having a hard time deciding which to unload. I have not heard your Pioneer, but both improved my sound quality for 2 channel.
