And watts are one of the last things you should look at when buying a receiver period.

I don't know because I never seriously considered H/K stuff, but I saw some people complaining on AVS that H/Ks sounded great but their Video was atrocious. I think they were complaining of numerous problems with their HDMI interface. People are complaining about even the best receivers over there but it seemed to be more than just that. I'd at least do some research first before buying one.

I have the Onkyo 705 and love it. I've not had issues with it and would definitely point people in it's direction.

Uh, watts as listed on the box should basically be ignored, but that does not mean you should not consider them. Esp in a receiver, which can be pretty weak. It's a huge issue if you ask me.

We've been over this before and I think we pretty much agree, but I'll rehash.

Watts listed on the box don't mean anything as you said. A receiver that actually puts out 75W is (everything else being equal) 3dB softer than a 150W receiver. Most people who don't have enormous rooms or super inefficient speakers rarely use more than a few watts, etc.

Things more important than wattage in my opinion:
Sound
THD
Build Quality/components, or more generally weight of the damn thing
Enough connections to support you for now and in the future

I ordered a receiver yesterday. It's listed at 120w x 7. I had to look it up just now because I didn't know. I'm sure under bench tests it won't do better than 75wpc and I couldn't care less. Now if it sounds like crap or is buggy or has problems with HDMI handshaking I'm not keeping it.

Well, I'd put sound at the top, too. But enough wattage and low THD go directly to the sound quality. It's all one issue in my language.

I'm trying to change speakers, if I can sell mine. The one's I am moving to are such a different level of efficiency, I had to do a watt calculation in the planning stage just to make sure my receiver can even handle this move.

Klipsch to Maggies?

Klipsch, yes. And to virtually anything else it's an increase of at least 3 exponential levels of power requirements. With the Klipsch I probably hover around 1 watt of usage at normal listening levels. (unless I'm pissed and crank it up ) I'm likely to go to SVS (similar to Maggies efficiency) next and normal volume will take ~8wpc, I'm thinking. Considering that even my $1500 receiver is really only a 47wpc or so amp with all 7 pounding, it gets a little tight. And I won't run at redline.

With the Klipsch I can play 7 channels at reference....with a receiver!

Maybe next year I'll be able to afford the amp I want. Then it won't matter.