Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Looks like it's time for a new reciever.

As long as the speaker impedence is in the range the receiver can handle (which is true for M60s and any receiver) the only real "power matching" is "dividing your money between speakers and reciever so one doesn't run out of steam before the other". In other words the only "mismatch" in your system is that the M60s can handle more power than the receiver can comfortably put out for a long period of time.

Have you done any calibration to make sure the speaker levels are correct ? Sometimes (and I stress sometimes) having to crank an HT system up loud just means your center channel is set too low or your sub is set too low and you're cranking the sound to get the effect you wanted.

On the other hand, you have a reasonably big room (2640 ft3) so more power sure isn't going to hurt. Remember that all AV receivers run hot at the best of times because they have 5+ amplifiers idling and a big honkin' power supply for even a middling-sized receiver.

I think we're all saying "sure, there is a new receiver in your future but make sure you go up enough to make a real difference". The other option to consider is adding a big-ass stereo power amp to drive the 60s, letting the receiver drive the center and surrounds which won't put as much load and won't heat things up so much. One big question is how loud you like to play, don't suppose you have an SPL meter yet do you ? If you like "LOUD" (as opposed to just "loud") then a power amp might be a good option.

I don't know how good / current your Onkyo's "guts" are, ie whether power amp or new receiver is the best investment for the future.