I see the value in using commercial amplifiers for their day to day ruggedness and the ability to accept microphones and balanced lines...

I have to confess though that I recently installed a background sound system in a restaurant using a Yamaha RXA2050 Surround amp because it did a few things in one box that I didn't think was possible at the time with some commercial equipment. I found out they wanted to use a microphone for speech so I added a mixer from the stage running through balanced line to a DI box.

From this one amp I could:

1) Power 3 discrete zones with lots of power if it ever needed it. 99% of the time the music will be quiet running all day.

2) Have the ability to set zone 2 and 3 to mono.

3) Very adjustable EQ for the main zone and bass/treble control for all zones.

4) HDMI switching for the one projector in the restaurant.

5) Graphical volume feedback to work with the RTiPanel.

6) Ability to set exact volume levels with macros.

7) Query the amp for input setting and display current zone input selection on the iPad controller.

8) 4 years warranty

9) Provide an iPod input with music data and control on iPad

10) No knobs for anyone to play with and mess up gain settings. I can adjust input gain setting through the receiver options plus I can automatically set volume levels when switching from one source to another.

My initial thought was to use a DBX zone pro but I wasn't sure if I could get some of this functionality for a fully automated system, at the same price point. What do you guys think? Overall the owners, who have seen many restaurant audio systems that nobody could use, are very impressed with the way it works and I'm not at all worried about it blowing up from playing all day.