Using uBid is a pretty good consideration. While they do not have the full manufacturer's warranty for most of their receivers, they still typically offer a 60-90 day warranty and in my experience, you're likely to encounter a problem w/in the first month of use, so 60-90 days isn't all that bad. And considering most manufacturer refurbs have been through a few rounds of QA, they are more likely to be issue free than some of the new compoenents. Of course it would be nicer to have the full 1, 2 or 3 year mfg. warranty, but the added warranty that more often than not isn't used usually comes with a a substantial difference in price.
I myself am using the RX-V2500 as a pre/pro and I have been completely satisfied with its performance and very happy with it's feature set. While this is a fairly sizeable room, the 1500/2500 would likely fill it pretty well, assuming you don't listen at loud volume levels for extended periods. If this were the case, you might benefit from using a 2 or 3 channel external amp for the front soundstage and let the 1500/2500 power the rest of the speakers. This would allow you to drive the Yamaha at relatively loud listening levels for extended periods without experiencing some of the distortion fatigue many mid level receivers encounter when listening close to reference levels (0 dB). Before going that route, though, I would give the 1500/2500 a good battery of listening tests first, you may decide you don't need any additional power... -TD
