Watts to speakers

How much money do you have to spend on a receiver?

Those are great speakers and you are pairing them with a poor receiver IMHO and not good for your speakers

Don't look at the manufacturer specs cause they are generally aspirational and many of the companies test their wattage differently

Bingo and bingo. Look for a better quality AVR.

It seems extremely unlikely that the VSX-521 would be appropriate for those speakers.

That VSX-521 receiver is rated for 110w/channel with 2 channels driven, which might seem to be enough power for the front 2 speakers. That power rating is VERY misleading, however.

The problem is that when you look at reviews and actual power tests that Home Theater has run in the past on receivers in this very low price category, it turns out that with all 5 channels driven they will only put out 30 to 50 watts before distortion exceeds 1% (if that...).

That receiver probably has only about 250 watts TOTAL available to run all of the speakers, so divide it up among 5 channels...do the math.

When listening to movie sound tracks, the loud peaks will take that much peak power, so you probably will have a lot more distortion than you want to hear.

Denon receivers have shown in past Home Theater magazine tests that they will come much closer to delivering some actual power to 5 channels that is closer to their 2-channel power rating than most other brands. This is easy to verify by reading their reviews which have test results on the actual power.

Denon typically delivers 80% to 90% of their 2-channel power rating to all 5 channels, where other brands frequently deliver less than 50%.

The Denon AVR-3311CI would be a good choice for your speakers. It is rated for 125 watts per channel, and past test results would indicate that it can probably deliver AT LEAST 90 watts per channel with low distortion with 5 channels fully driven, which will do a much better job with your speakers.

This receiver sells for around $800, which seems reasonable for speakers which would seem to sell for twice that much.

The Denon AVR-2311CI is a bit less expensive and would also be suitable.

The current 2011 Pioneer Elite VSX-53 or similar would be good, but beware of the 2012 models, which are going to have digital switching amplifiers. They have a reputation for poor sound quality (and reliability is unknown...).

Are you talking about the fact they have an SMPS (Switch Mode Power Supply, does it have one?) or due to its specific new amp topology not being designed well?

I would personally spend a bit more than $200 on a receiver, but in no way do you have to spend $800 because you spent $1600 on speakers. There is no law of proportionality here. If you bought a receiver with all channels pre-outs (or at least the front three), then you would be free to add an external power amp later if the receiver wasn't enough in terms of power. The amp will last will decades whereas the receiver will be obsolete in 5 years.

Many people here have said that a 125 WPC receiver like that will only output 50 Watts max to the front three, and things like that. Okay, so what? 50 Watts might be enough for you anyway; it's only 4 dB less than 125W. The surrounds speakers are likely fed 10 dB less than the front three during a movie, so around 5W while the fronts if the peaks are getting peaks of 50W.

Onkyo AVRs have the most bang for the buck for amp output, 609 would be a good starting point...

the poster is incorrect... pioneer vsx models are class a/b amplifiers...

sc models are class d amplifiers... which have exhibited no issues...

Class D amplifiers are good for subs, but are they really good for full range speakers, sound wise... I know there very green and run cool. but sound wise..

1021 isn't that powerful either, go with 1121 or higher end Elite models. The Onkyo NR709 would be a pretty good choice too.

Good choices! as would be the Harman Kardon AVR 2600 (except no pre-outs)

But does he need the extra few dB for double the price?

It isn't double the price. 1121 is on sale for $449 at Newegg with promo code EMCNJJA37. Plus you get preamp outputs in case he wants to add an amp later.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16882117401

That makes it less than the RX-V671 and only $50 more than the current price of the VSX-1021
http://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-RX-V671...7168372&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-VSX-10...7168509&sr=1-1

That will certainly meet you needs and you feel you need more power you can easily add an external amp as the 709 comes with pre-outs

Yes for 12 AWG, cheap from monoprice. Get the in-wall version if you are going to actually run them in walls or ceilings.