Help choosing a receiver for home theater system

[yg17]

I currently have this home theater system. I'm eventually getting an HDTV and will want something with more optical inputs, and more importantly, HDMI switching. But, this system is a little under 2 years old and I don't want to throw everything out, so I figured I'd keep the speakers and sub and just replace the receiver.

That's where I'm a bit confused....I know nothing about this stuff. Do I need to match up wattages or power or anything like that? I don't want to hook my speakers up to the new receiver and blow them up as soon as I turn it on and play the slightest sound through it. So how do I know that my existing speakers will play nice with a new receiver?

Also, just to clarify something, HDMI will carry full multichannel surround, correct? Because I guess that would mean that I don't need as many optical inputs, since I could plug my TiVo and the PS3 I'm likely to get into HDMI and keep a couple opticals open for my iMac and 360.

Thanks

 

[scotthayes]

guess a lot of it depends on your budget.

you could go for this one Home theater system

But you best bet would be to find a local Audio Visual store and look at the kit they have in.

 

[yg17]

guess a lot of it depends on your budget.

you could go for this one Home theater system

But you best bet would be to find a local Audio Visual store and look at the kit they have in.

Thanks. My budget is fairly low, maybe $500 at most. I am not looking for an entire new system, just the receiver, if at all possible, and just need to know how to determine if my speakers can handle a new receiver. Thanks