speaker/receiver advice

[Wiluven]

I also made this post on the avsforums but I realize it's more Ascend specific so I am reposting here. I hope this doesn't break any rules.

This is a follow up to this thread that I made here, it has some good information on my room layout:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=773806

I am looking at getting 3 Ascend 340SE's for L/R/C but I'm not sure what else to do. I am debating going with a 5.1 or 7.1 system and debating on what speakers to go with them.

What are the advantages of a 7.1 system over a 5.1? Why would I go with a 5.1 when I could go with a 7.1?

If I go with a 7.1 - should I get more 340SE's for sides and rear or should I get the 170SE's? Is there any benefit of getting 340's over the 170's for sides and rear?

Last question - What receiver should I get to power these? I have no clue what to even look for in a receiver, it's all jibberish to me. I have a friend who can get me a big discount on Sony receivers - are any of those worthwhile or should I go with something else? I need some help on getting started with choosing a receiver

[BradJudy]

What's your budget for the receiver?

[Wiluven]

Anything less than 1000 dollars, perferably less.

Anyone have any input on the other questions?

[Gov]

If I had a $1000 budget to spend right now, I would get...

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls....cvr&1170009770

[tjennings]

I listen to a lot of hi-rez multi-channel music, so I'm looking to get a pair of 340 SE's with my income tax return for my corner surrounds to match the three up front.

I have another brand speaker in the center rear channel... a 340 would probably be overkill for that channel so I might just leave the other brand there, or perhaps see if I can get a single 170 SE.

The 6.1 / 7.1 give you additional fullness in the rear, but 7.1 isn't a true format yet (to my knowledge anyhow) so it is up to the receiver wizards to figure out how best to utilize it. I have a Denon receiver with 6.1.

[joacosole]

It all depends on what you want. And that's what this post is about. I have had the same dilema for a couple of weeks(months) and this is what I arrived to. I wanted a receiver that:

-did upconversion to HDMI from analog
-did 7.1 (just in case for future)
-nice power 100W or more
-accepted 1080p over HDMI (just in case for future)
-low price (obviously)

I then researched the web and arrived at 3/4 entry models

Yamaha 1700 most expensive best power
Denon 2307CI
Denon 887
Onkyo 674

I'm leaning toward 887 since there have been reports of the Onkyo having some problems with HDMI. search avsforum. and the 2307CI has some features that I wont be using and thus wont spend the extra 100.

As for the setup, I would go (and its what I'm doing) 5.1 but have the receiver be able to go to 7.1 just in case you want to. In a 7.1 setup the rear speakers SHOULD be bigger than the sides. Notice SHOULD as there is no norm to this. Plz someone correct me if I'm wrong I don't remember where I read that.

Happy spending..
EDIT: Now that I think of it(or slept through). It would be ideal to have every speaker be the same size. But I think that having the sides smaller than the rear would give it the sides more of an ambience speaker and the rears as true surrounds. I don't know. Search audioholics and avsforum. I'm sure this has been discussed.