I am considering purchasing m60's and would like to know if a 80 watt sony str-de445 receiver has sufficient enough watts to prevent clipping? I have a 200 sq. ft. family room and am not sure if I should get the qs4's or qs8's and either the center 100 or 150? What is the difference between the qs's and the center's?

Hi Chris

I had a Sony STRDB1070, rated at 100 watts x 6 channels. I always found it sort of underpowered. There is a website called ratesvac where some fella measured the actual output of various receivers. He figured the 1070 actually put out only 30 odd watts per channel. Can't comment on his methodology, but my experience with the Sony was consistent with his results.

http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Hollow/3401/ratevsac.htm

You may want to check Sony's specs to see whether they claim the 80 wpc with all channels driven. In any case, If you like the Sony, I'd use it as a preamp and get some 2 channel amps for some power. I used 3 Onkyo M282 120 watts x 2 amps which I got manufacturer refurbished from ubid.com for under $100 each.

G'luck.

Though I think it's a slightly under-qualified question, I can make some assumptions and try to give you an answer to the first question.

Your Sony is a relatively 'weak' 80-watt receiver (certainly blown away by various 55-watt HKs in the power department) but Axiom speakers are very efficient, and the towers moreso than the bookshelves.

You won't clip at reasonable, or even loud volume levels. I'd imagine you would clip at extreme volume levels. More power certainly couldn't hurt, but I'm pretty confident your concern won't be a problem.