How about a little of both?

I think the best stategy for the traditional AVS (i.e. UGAS and Mancheck) is to have a branded and niched hubsite. Instead of just making a massive single AVS site, you make many and push the traffic to your hub where you list all of your sites for a particular AVS. It's the best of both worlds. It gives you more opportunities to upsell to your Platinum/Plus sites, it helps you gain bookmarkers and gives you more clout with the SEs.