Vike, in my view there's no good reason to seriously consider spending more than about $300 for the power requirements. If you want to stay with just two channels the 3480 Rick suggested would be a good choice, but the future flexibility which an HT receiver offers, as Robb pointed out, suggests that you consider that. Also keep in mind that the HT receiver has bass management which can be used even in a two speaker plus sub setup.

For cables, MonoPrice can't be beat.

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Enjoy the music, not the equipment.