WhatFurrer,
Thanks for your commments, Tom Tuttles, and everyone's contributions.
The Sherwood Newcastle receivers have excellent amplifier sections. We have several different models at the Axiom plant and even the least expensive (an AV model combined with a DVD player; no longer in the line, if I recall) will drive the 4-ohm M80s with no problems.
I'll preface my general comments on "ease of use" by saying that no particular brand--Denon, Yamaha, H/K, Onkyo, Pioneer-- is easy to use without consulting the manual. But certainly some brands seem to be a bit more intuitive, or the remote has more clearly labeled buttons, or there are dedicated buttons on the front panel that are easy to find, not hidden behind a little panel with labels impossible to read without a flashlight.
I have not had experience with the Denon 3806, but a more junior model (a 1704, perhaps) belonging to a friend's son I was able to get operating and switching different surround modes without consulting the manual.
My visits to the Axiom listening room usually involve 2 to 5 days, but I found trying to switch the Sherwood to the stereo mode extremely frustrating. I had to bring in a couple of my colleagues who were able to help because they'd used it more than I had. I did not look at the owner's manual until later.
By contrast, the remote control for my H/K has a dedicated button labeled "Stereo" that switches off all the surround modes and goes to stereo. Simple.
In my experience, Yamaha menus are fairly complicated as well. No matter which brand you get, Laurie, I recommend you take some time and read the manual, but there are guidelines that will help: Are the remote's buttons too small and hard to read? The remote must have a backlight button. Can you read the front-panel display from 10 feet away, which will let you change modes, functions or sources without turning on the video display, if you are just listening to music, for example?
