7.1 channel config on Marantz NR1402

I guess it's too soon to be asking, but maybe one of the dealers knows this:

The new Marantz NR1402 receiver only has 5 speaker terminals, but according to the manual does have support for 7.1 configurations if you connect a power amplifier to its front preouts. That's great in theory, but for as far as I can see, the wiring is completely backwards: they expect you to power the surround back speakers with the external power amp. I want to use the power amp for my fronts, not the backs. The manual isn't exactly clear on this, so I'll ask here:

Does the NR1402 allow you to use the front speaker terminals for surround back speakers?

In my case, I plan to give my PM7003 to my parents for stereo listening. All their non-video sources (tuner, phono) will be connected to the amp. For video switching, I want to give them a cheap AV receiver that uses the front speakers through the PM7003 power amp input. Since I already have the front channels covered, I was hoping that the NR1402 would be exactly what I want, but I'm not going to suggest they use the surround back satellites for stereo (music) listening.