I am new to stereo equipment. I recently bought a pair of 300 watt Denmark Speakers almost brand new at a yardsale. Each speaker is 300 watts. I am interested in basic (probably 5 channels) surround sound. I plan to add additional speakers shortly. How much power should I have in the receiver for these speakers? Also, are all speakers compatable with all receivers? Can you recommend any brand or model of receiver? I would like to spend around $500. Thanks so much.
Denon, Marantz, and Yamaha seem to be the names in receivers which come up all the time. (Especially Denon)
Get as much power as your wallet will afford. You'll never have too much, but you certainly can have too little. Generally, Too LITTLE power is what damages speakers, not too much.
As far as every speaker being able to be driven by every receiver, no, you can't. Check what ohm rating your speakers are, and be sure that the receiver you pick is able to drive that. Most (but certainly not all) speakers are 8 ohms, and all receviers can drive an 8 ohm speaker. It's when you get into 6 and 4 ohm speakers when you need to be careful.
I tend to agree with polara; have never heard of the "Denmark" brand. Anybody heard of it??? I would question the legitimacy of the brand... But if they sound good to you for the money, it's okay I guess.
There's a post on audioreview.com regarding Denmark. Sounds like the "white van" brand. Uh-oh. If you like the sound of them, that's good, but I hope they were cheap.
Well, I found a picture of a Denmark speaker http://public.fotki.com/kclm7/misc_pictures/denamark_speaker.html and it doesn't look like a white van model.
BTW, a "white van speaker" is a speaker that is generally sold by a couple of guys in a van, with a story like, "I'm delivering these really great speakers to a club, and I brought some extras, and I need to get rid of them quick. I'll sell them to you for $500" etc. The speakers are generally covered in dark gray felt, and are absolutely crap. Often the drivers aren't even all hooked up, and they're held together by duct tape (literally) on the inside. Yes, some companies have this as a business model.
However, I still don't trust speakers whose main feature is their power handling (wattage), since that's just not that important of a feature in decent speakers. Anyway, I would recommend Harman Kardon receiver (except for their remotes. ;-)