72mustang - I realize when hearing it for the first time, JohnK's advice probably sounds different than what you read on many other boards about buying a receiver that sounds best with xyz speaker.
I was the same way when I first started researching the Axioms and have learned a lot here since. For what it's worth, to give you a second opinion, the reason so many here like the Denon (2808, or more commonly recently the 3808) is because of its features, not because of how it sounds with the Axioms. I bought the 3808 for the fact that it connects to the Internet for firmware updates in-home as opposed to shipping it off, and the fact that it can stream music from your home networked PC through your Axioms, a very cool feature.
Also, on the M80s, the reason there is a perception that they are 'power hungry' is likely because they are 4ohm speakers and not 8 ohm like many other speakers. The irony of that perception, though, is that like JohnK pointed out, their sensitivity is very high (check the product specs page) which indicates how much volume (95 dB) they produce using a single watt of power, measured at 1 meter away. [this still amazes me what a single watt can do!]
Granted, you don't listen at 1M distance, and you'll want more than 95 dB at times, and the wattage requirements ramp up steeply as desired output and distance increase.
Many receiver manufacturers do not advertise that their units support 4 ohm loads from their units, when in fact in practice, many of those same receivers work just fine with the M80s, which has been confirmed here many times. With that said, there have been a few reports of certain Onkyo units running very hot with the M80s, however, I believe this is something they do with any speaker (based on other reports I've read), not just the M80s.
This is a long way of saying I agree with what JohnK wrote, but I thought it might be helpful for you to hear another opinion confirming his thoughts.
Keep the questions coming if you have them, we're happy to help.
Jason
