Why receivers aren't worth the "competetive price"

With all the attention and interest (not to mention market share) that AV receivers get (even more so than speakers I presume), I have to wonder if anyone really cares about absolute sound quality for thier HT setup's!?!
I look at Bose, and how well they do, and tell myself "Marketing is everything!"...hummmmm.
Surely, if it's packaged well, reviewed heavily, advertised even more aggressively, etc, it's gunna be more succesful as a product, or in this case, a product line.
Let's face it, people like receivers! I've probably outsold receivers 20:1 over the years, over better separates based products in this business. And I mean, to be true, I'll conceed, that the allure of an all-in-on, "do-all" little sexy black box with nobs is a fun item to think about, tinker with, and have sitting in a rack. It's a strange pheonomina really. I've been there myself in the past,and have owned a few receivers personally...mostly, however, when I was just getting into all this stuff.
I mean, sure, don't get me wrong, receivers offer a lot of perceived value for what they offer, and for reasonable pricing on occasion. I'll grant that.
But truth be told, my experience over time has proven to me, time and again, that when it comes to absolute sound quality for today's HT/music multi-channel systems, separates still FAR OUTPERFORM receivers by a wide margin! Basically, a good separates system STOMPS the receiver in sound quality, even punishes it!...far more realistic, musical, pure, dynamic, resolved, better signal to noise, channel separtion, soundstaging, you name it! At least that's what I've found to be a "Biblical truth" in AV.
I've matched the biggest flagships from Denon, Yamaha, Marantz, Integra, B&K, even, yes, Arcam in the past with even modest power budget separates,(even drving receivers from their pre's is a step up!) and it's almost clockwork...the separates is just better. And to me, soundquality is EVERYTHING when it comes to the audio side of the equation. So to that end, I don't get it. Why aren't more people buying separates?! I mean, some of these receivers these days are more than $4500, even $6000!! Good night! Personally, I'd never pay even $1500 for ANY RECEIVER, cause I know the differnce, and I love audiophile grade sound. It's like Haggendas over store brand blue label ice cream, to me.
On more than a few occasion, just to check what the state of the current "receiver market" is doing, I've taken some of the hot market receiver pieces, and played with 'em, just for kicks and giggles, and my own edificaiton and knowledge. And every time, the receivers on their own have dissapointed...nothing special usually. Usually the amp sections are SEVERELY COMPROMISED, and the preamp section is lacking. And although the resolution has gotten better in these things lately, the overall sound qualiy still leaves it on the proverbial table! Personally, every time I play my system, I'm reminded of how good it is on the "non-receiver side of the fence!"
Anyone care to comment on "their receiver experience", possibly who've owned better separates, or separates based AV systems in the past? Otherwise, I'd like to know from you "receiver guys", what is it about owning an AV receiver, that does it for you!?!