yamaha rxv563 7.1 receiver. got this a few years ago off ebay, it was b stock so it was quite inexpensive. http://usa.yamaha.com/products/audio-visual/av-receivers-amps/rx/rx-v563_black__u/?mode=model only 2 hdmi inputs but i can live with that.

another question, i know my speakers are nothing special but they work for now, they're yamahas ns-ap7800 http://media.datatail.com/docs/manual/82023_en.pdf at the time i could only find them in 5.1. for 2 more speakers to make 7.1 at the time i could only find the ns-ap7900 http://media.datatail.com/docs/manual/73561_en.pdf these speakers are slightly different, i know you're supposed to have all satellite speakers match, but since it's only a slight difference, will it even be noticeable sounding? should i put these 2 different ones(7900s) as my middle or back speakers? i figured keep the 2 front ones as they are since they have build in stands. the only difference is the weight and dimensions are very slightly different. the 7800s have a 2.25 inch woofer, the 7900s have a 2.5 inch woofer.

Ski, the 563 is just as good as its specs. Power output advertising is governed by FTC(Federal Trade Commission)regulations and this is about the only area in audio equipment where you can be confident that what you see is what you get. The 563 should have plenty of power capacity for the speakers that you have. It doesn't have some of the most up-to-date features, but since you're working with a limited budget for audio equipment, there's certainly no urgency in making a change.

The speakers that you mention, the 7800 and 7900, are certainly close enough that either can be used together as surrounds. If you have at least 4' behind your listening position where you could put the 7900s, you'll get some benefit from the back surround sound. Of course with those small woofers there's practically no bass output below about 100Hz and you're missing out on a big chunk of sound. When your budget permits you should get better speakers, especially for the front, and a sub to fill in that missing bass.

As usual JohnK has summed things up quite nicely.

The compressed music enhancer on the Yamaha receiver is a sneaky super-nice feature. I use it when I run my ipod through my system and it cleans up the music very nicely.