I did some searching online, and found that the Denon AVR-1700 has preouts for the front speakers. You might consider putting your money instead into a budget multichannel amp such as an Adcom, Emotiva, or Outlaw. Then hook up the preouts of your current receiver to the outboard amp to let it power the main L/R and center speaker and let the receiver take care of the surrounds. If you desire an upgrade further on down the road, upgrade to a HT receiver that has full 5.1 or 7.1 preouts and run all speakers off the multichannel amp.
I used to have an NAD T760 driving some PSB speakers, and it sounded just OK. When I added an outboard amp (Sherbourn 5/1500A), though, the performance up easily a couple full notches.
Michael
I used to have an NAD T760 driving some PSB speakers, and it sounded just OK. When I added an outboard amp (Sherbourn 5/1500A), though, the performance up easily a couple full notches.
Michael