Quote Originally Posted by travelight
I know for a lot of you guys, this is something you would probably just totally ignore because it may be annoying but I am really just getting into having a somewhat decent set up (hopefully). Anyways, I'm getting a Marantz 2200 receiver which is 15 watts at 8 ohms (i believe) and I have absolutely NO idea where to start with speakers. ....
15 watts isn't a huge amount of power but will drive efficient speakers even in a mid-sized room. Efficiency can be gauged by the sensitivity specification of the speakers; this is usually measured as decibels per watt at one meter. That is, for example 92 dB/1 watt @ 1 meter; the higher the number the more efficient the speaker. By the way, the "maximum watts" rating is perhaps the most often quoted speaker specification, however it is also the most irrelevant for the home user.

Of course, the size of your room and also its furnishings are a big factor as well as the speaker efficiency. But in a typical medium sized room, say 12' x 20', 15 watts will drive speakers with a sensitivity of 92+ dB quite well.