hi, thinking of gettin a pre-amp/poweramp combo or a receiver for 2ch audio... is there much difference in sound quality? I originaly just wanted to get a poweramp combo but I thought I might watch movies aswell
If you are going 2 channel, go with the pre-amp/poweramp combo. You'll be able to watch all the movies you want in this scenario, you just won't get surround (a 2 channel receiver won't get you surround either).
Well, you'll need to decide what your priorities are. Mine is music, so 2 channel is best for me. I'm satisfied with what 2 channel gives me for movies. But you may spend more time watching movies and less time with music.
You need to decide what you want to do before any advice can be given really. A surround sound system puts more pressure for real estate in the room. You need to be able to locate 5 speakers and a subwoofer. If you go for 5 satellites, then you may wish to pop them on the walls in order to save space, but then you need to concern yourself with hiding the cables (I know of no quality wireless solutions). If you choose full range speakers, then you need to work ouot the space for them.
On top of that you need a subwoofer. Although subwoofers are a little easier to locate in a room, they're still relatively large things.
If music is more important to you than movies, then spending similar amounts of money on a stereo amp and 2 speakers as you would spend on a receiver and 5.1 system allows the manufacturers to put more quality components in the boxes of the simpler system. This means you should get better quality even if you don't necessarily get the surround sound effect. I now live with a rather nice complete 5.1 setup, but for many years I lived with a 2-channel system only and the result was very effective, especially since the money had been spent on some pretty awesome electronics. Nowadays my music appreciation isn't as good because of the lower level of the (already pretty hot) surround processor/amp and I find myself hankering after higher quality for music again.
Have a long hard think about all this before making decisions.
what I really wanted to know was the difference in sound quality between receiver and amp since I will probably listen to music more, and since receivers have a 2 channel input i just wanted to know how good is it usually
Well, if you compare an $800 receiver with an $800 2-channel amplifier, the 2-channel job will usually sound better. Obviously if you compare a $1000 5.1 sub/sat speaker system with $1000 stereo pair of speakers, the latter should sound a lot better.
The question is whether you can live without surround sound.
roman a power amp needs to be connected to a pre amp. a power amp is generally not designed to work on its own. you do get a pre+power amp in one unit called an integrated amp. this is the minimum that you need would need. add on a tuner into the same unit and its called a receiver. this is irrespective of the number of channels. a receiver can be stereo or surround (wasnt sure if you were clear on this so thought i would give you the schpeel on it)
stereo amps / receivers are designed with music being the only priority whereas surround sound amps are generally designed with HT being first priority and music takes a back seat (some brands more than others). if HT doesnt matter too much to you then i suggest you go for a 2 channel setup. for me my 2 channel set up does fine for HT as well. but thats because im not so much into HT.
your decision would depend on your priorities in terms of HT/music and your budget. do you already have your speakers / source