OK. I am about 2 weeks away from ordering my M60, VP150, QS8 and SVS 20-39PCi setup, but now I need to iron out the receiver.

I won't have a dedicated room in my basement for a theater, so I have to take in to accound the entire volume of the basement when picking speakers, but what about watts on the receiver.

I have been looking at the two following receivers (I know that there are plenty of others out there that are great too)... Sony STR-DA3000ES and Pioneer Elite VSX-54TX.

The Pioneer is THX Select certified, and has some nice features, but is about 110 Watts per each of the 7 channels (7.1 receiver). The Sony is not THX certified, but offers up 250 Watts per each of the 7 channels...

Right now, I will only have a 5.1 set up due to the location of the home theater area, but if we ever get around to building our home addition, the basement addition will become a dedicated theater, and even though I can only handle 5.1 now, I would like to have 7.1 for the future.

I have about $850 to spend on a receiver (the next step up Sony STR-DA5000 has 170 watts and is about $900 on Froogle).

Again, I want good quality, need 5.1, but would like 7.1 for the future, and need to have enough power for the big M60ti fronts....

Thanks.

Nick, I get the impression that you may be too concerned with power ratings. The Sony is rated at 150(not 250)watts but this means only about 1.35dB more in maximum sound level than 110 watts(e.g. 111.35dB compared to 110dB on a brief peak)and in my view shouldn't be a major consideration. The features of the Pioneer would be more attractive to me, as would those of Denon and Yamaha receivers of similar price.

Oops... You are right, that was supposed to be 150 and not 250... I fat fingered it while I was typing...

Thanks for the insight about wattage and dB differences...

Now to find the best features and reliability in a receiver... This may take a while...

I have two Onkyo receivers and couldn't by happier w/ them....good clean power w/ lots of features. If you're going to look into Denon or a Yamaha, then you might want to check out the Onkyo TXSR702...w/in your price range.