Yamaha Aventage RX-A1020 Needs some speakers

I agree with the above poster. The CM9's are very nice speakers but like most B&W's, have some pretty low impedence dips. Therefore, they will perform at their best when given plenty of high current power. The kind of power that very few AVR's can provide. Unfortunately that means your Yamaha RX1020 too - its power supply is simply too small to deliver the current that the B&W's will demand. There are those who will say your AVR will drive them. Sure, it will but you'll never hear the peak performance the CM9's are capable of and why pay 3K for a pair of speakers and not hear everything they are capable of.

I would be looking a high quality power amp for the CM9's too. I think the one you are asking about is the Marantz MM8077 because the AV8801 you mention is a pre/pro. While a huge step up from your Yamaha 1020, this power amp would not be high on my list for the CM9's. It has no rating into 4 Ohms and the CM9's will dip below this number from time to time. Also I found the following article interesting in the reveiwer actually thought his Anthem PVA7 has more balls than the Marantz. And the Anthem is rated at fewer watts per channel too. Its all about current delivery.

http://www.hometheater.com/content/marantz-av8801-surround-processor-amp-mm8077-amplifier

Don't get me wrong. I like Marantz, especially their Reference gear. I am just not impressed with what I am reading about this model. There a lot of other power amps at the same price as the Marantz you can choose from - Odyssey, Emotiva, Parasound, Anthem, NAD, Rotel, etc and I believe all of these list their specs into 4 ohms. These would be amplifiers you can trust to properly handle the CM9's. Good luck!

You probably don't even need 200 wpc but since we don't know how big your room is, we'll start here and work our way down.

Since you originally mentioned three channel amps, I will limit the discussion here. Some 3 channel amps to consider are:
Parasound A31, 250 wpc, $3000
Anthem MCA-30, 180 wpc, $2100
Odyssey Stratos HT-3, 150 wpc, $1550
Emotiva XPA-3, 200 wpc, $700

Any of the above will more than get the job done with your CM9's. Its just a matter of how much or how little you want to spend and the level of quality you want. Finally, with a 3 channel amp handling the critical front three speakers, this will leave your Yamaha RX1020 to act as the preamp/processor and also power your surrounds for HT usage. The Yamaha will be more than up to the task just handling surround information. Hope this helps - happy listening!

Thats a big room Bill. With a lot of highly reflective surfaces too.

If it was me, I would get the Parasound A31 at 250 wpc to drive the CM9's and Center. 3K and your done. Comes in Silver or Black. Keep your Yamaha RX1020 as your processor and also use it to drive the surrounds.

Then consider some room treatments or your going to have one very bright sounding system. And the amplifier you choose won't have anything to do with it. Good luck.