You should not have problems with balancing levels even if you leave the surround back channels on your receiver (although you'll definitely need to re-calibrate your system, and when you do so you may notice those two channels requiring a higher level than the others to get the same SPL's).

As AvFan points out, going with a seven-channel amp now will allow you to move to a processor later without needing to also get additional amplification.
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gonk
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