I am looking for excuses to spend some of that magical "tax return" money. That said, can I get people's input on receivers between $700 and $1k?

To start things off, maybe thoughts on:
Denon AVR3803
Onkyo TX-NR801
Yamaha RX-V1400
H/K AVR7200

I have m60s, vp150 and qs8s in a 12' x 15' room set up lengthwise (couch at ~10') My sub is an AudioSource SW-15 which is adaquate for home theater, although rather boomy. (I plan to replace it eventually, but the sub is not the point here.) My current receiver is a Kenwood VR-507 and I know it can't really send the power it claims it does to every channel simultaneously. I feel like I'm doing my axioms an injustice. They sound great, but as I turn them up there's a point where I can feel they are pleading for more juice...

GO with the H/K 7200 as it was once close to 2 grand an u can get it for under $800 now i have the 525 an would love to upgrade but oh well the 525 is pretty sweet an sounds great

Ring, since I do taxation, I first have to tweak you a bit for giving the federal government an interest-free loan by not doing your W-4 more accurately. On the receiver power, don't worry about driving all channels simultaneously at full power for any extended time period; that happens in the testing labs, but not on music. I don't know if your M60s really need more juice, but if you get a new receiver two excellent choices in your price range which both have automatic room and speaker equalization are the Pioneer 55TXi and Yamaha 2400.

In response to the interest free loan business. I'm just out of college, so I have half a year's income at my curent salary which was taxed as if it I were making it all year. I don't expect this to occur in the future.

I guess I should ammend my question because I know there have been some recent discussions here regarding similar receivers. I don't know that I would need the auto-calibration. I am comfortable with taking the time to set it up manually until I am content that it sounds good. That in mind, do people have a prefernece based on the other features of these receivers?

I guess the other thing is, I know that eventually I want to go the way of seperates, but I feel like taking a long lasting step in that direction will run me more like $2k. Should I just stick it out for another year or two with my Kenwood and then go that route?

If you feel like you need more power, then you could do as 2x6 has done - which is to add more amplifiers to your current system using refurbed 2 channel receivers. Using one of those (which are apparently available quite cheap) to power your surrounds would certainly free up your Kenwood for the front 3 channels.

I've got to weigh in with the Denon 3803. Does video upconversion and the Pure direct stereo must be heard to be believed. Wonderful unit and can be used as a pre/pro wit the opportunity to add amplifier(s) later. It's special.

So Pure Direct Stereo sounds like all the other receivers, right?

Sorry, it's just been so quiet around here lately...

I have an RX-V1400. It's very good but IMO if you're into (or seriously considering) multichannel SACD or DVD-A music, then the H/K AVR-7200 is probably the best, followed by the Denon AVR-3803. The H/K has bass management on the 6-channel analog inputs, plus adjustable crossover for each speaker. The Denon doesn't have that but has +5, 10 and 15db bass boost on the subwoofer input, which is needed due to the mismatch in bass levels between SACD, DVD and DVD-A.

If you do mainly HT, some of these features are still nice but less compelling.

OTOH if you're mainly concerned with a theoretical power deficiency in your VR-507 (rated at 100w), you may not need a new receiver. First verify you've configured all your speakers as "small". This will unload the receiver by using your sub's built-in 200 watt amp. Bass takes by far the most power. Freed from this your receiver should easily be able to drive the efficient Axiom speakers. If you've already done that, I can't imagine you have a power deficiency.

Ok so at this point I'm thinking I will hang onto my Kenwood for a while. I can't set all my speakers to "small" but I can set them all to "normal" which I imagine is equivalent, and had already done for the reason you mentioned. The point at which I feel the speakers want more power is mind-numbingly loud anyway so it's probably better that I don't worry about it for now. (Although a new receiver would free up this one to set up with my old speakers in my bedroom.)

You struggle with that which we all struggle with...upgraditus! I was in the same boat as you with my Sony, not sure weather to keep or upgrade...but then it blew up. I mean literally it started sparking and smoking and well...I'm receiver shopping.
I'm sure that you'll be fine either way (staying or upgrading). It's always fun to make purchases. I was saving up for seperates, but now I'm just looking into a standalone receiver because I want to get up and running faster. But if I were in your shoes...and you wanted a great deal of power and performance I'd save up my money and go with where I was headed. The Outlaw 950/7100 combo for $1700 (after you buy the interconnects). Or if you're really wanting an upgrade you can go the 950/755 or 950/770 route for twice the wattage (100w per channel to 200w per channel), but you'll be looking at a good jump in price. You can check them out here www.outlawaudio.com. Good luck