My new HK 525 sparked and smoked. It's totally toast! Anyway, one call will replace it with a 430 if I wish. They don't have any other ones in stock. I'm torn, it's a lower rated unit (power wise). Should I go with the 430? Should I get something else? Any ideas appreciated!

BTW, I'm in a small/med room with VP150, 2 M22ti, 2 QS8s. Will I not care about those 5 watts? Is it worth it?

5W will not mean very much at all in regards to sound levels, however i would check the two units for their various comparable features and prices.
If it looks like Onecall is giving you a lesser unit after reviewing those areas, i would tell Onecall that is not good enough. In the least they should give you a complete credit for the 525 and perhaps you could kick in another $50 for something upscale from the 525.
I would complain that they not giving you an exact replacement.

It's a really tough call. The replacement they offered is 5 watts less. The model above that is 5 watts more than the 525. Both of the replacements have very small but questionable improvements over the 525.

I was thinking of calling them back, but I'm not really interested in paying the difference between them.

The price difference between the two new ones on their site is $80. I was thinking about cutting that in half, and paying $40 for the upgraded model. The 430 doesn't offer all of the same surround modes as the 525.

Ok, I got them to give me a 630 for $54 more (than I paid for the 525) at my cost (because that's half of their cost from 430 to 630). Also, it's an open box item that someone has returned (because they wished to upgrade). I feel kinda cheated, but I want to test drive the Axioms before my 30 days runs out.