[prb]

I need to buy an AV Receiver (5:1 dolby digital) to get the best from sky HD but looking at whats available i'm lost.

The TV is in a room sized about 5Mtr X 4Mtr so i don't think i need a high power unit. The neighbours from hell would complain if they could hear it throught he walls.

The receivers i have looked at range from 8w (surround speaker) to 80w

Any advice as to what power model i should be after would be appreciated, similarly any model reccomendations would be gratefuly received.

(all this after buying a Goodmans DVD surround sound syetem i thought would do the job only 2 month ago! (no optical input)

I don't want to pay a fortune for something thats never going to be turned up past volume No 1 or 2

[Astaroth]

The sensitivity of your speakers makes as much a difference to the final volume as the power of your amp.

Remember that there are lots of ways to measure power from an amp so the final volume from a pair of speakers with 2 differently rated amps could well be the same.

It is much easier to damage speakers by having an amp that is not powerful enough to drive the speakers than having one which is too powerful - the amp will start clipping when it is pushed to the upper end of its power output capabilities and this is what damages speakers the most - the sound will become unlistenable long before it starts doing damage to the speakers with an over powered amp.

There really is no association of cost to the power output of an amp so there isnt really a case of "dont pay a fortune for something that will never go above 1 or 2". The most expensive amp I have ever had only had 30watts per channel and cost over £3k but my current AVR amp was £520 but is 120w per channel.

[prb]

doing an internet search i can buy an amp with 8w per channel for less than £100 is this too low?

any recommendations around the £150 mark or am i going to get rubbish for this spend?