Hey Polar Weasel,

It's not so much power cords themselves, it is more the power constraints of running 7+ discrete channels in today's home theatre set-ups. Even though power cords have become oversized, this is not because they are larger than they need to be, but because there is a higher power demand supplying multiple channels.

With seperates you have 2 oversized cords running 2 dedicated components. The power to the Preamp, processor and tuner sections of a surround processor preamp is more than sufficient. The power to a 5,7 or even 9 channel amp is just enough to keep the level of dynamics required for true home theatre output. Any time you add more power constrants to one source, it is going to take away from the dynamics.

Todays Highend Receivers, Outlaw, Denon 3800 series and higher etc..., use discrete channel amplification, usually 10 channels+, run a preamp section, sound processor and tuner section from only one power source and transformer. There is no way that this will provide the same dynamics as two dedicated power sources in two seperate components with two seperate transformers.

In the end this translates into cleaner, more transparent sound with better dynamics and power reserves for seperates.