I can't comment on the equipment because I have no experience with any of it. (That said, I did note during a quick Google search that the Onkyo TX-8020 looks like a better sonic performer, but with half the watts. Remember, tho, watts aren't everything.)
The real question I think you should ask yourself is, What am I going to do with the system? Will you sit down and do critical listening, in which case you'll be worrying about things like soundstage, instrument placement, true harmonic tuning, those sorts of things. Will you have the system mostly for parties, hanging out with the family, working in the kitchen? In this case, maybe your talking about power, ability to play LPs while others are walking around the room, etc. Will you mostly use the system as background music to your life's daily movements? In this case, maybe your more worried about the size of the system, it's ability to fill the room with reasonable sound but blowing the windows out isn't really anything you care about.
Most likely, you'll want a mixture of all three (probably more options 2 and 3 given what your talking about above).
There is no right or wrong answer here. Just make sure you know the things you need to achieve your goals.
Next, I think you have been sold some horse malarchy.
First, any turntable can work for you. However, the Yamaha you mention above does not have a phono stage, so you'll need a preamp. Further, it is unclear to me that the 201 has many inputs at all, as I can't seem to find a list of them, other than it has 40 presets for FM. (Does any market have 40 stations?)
I'd move right on past the Yamaha 201 receiver. It won't meet your requirements bease it does nto hAve a phono stage. In your price range, the Onkyo mentioned above does have a phono stage. The job of a phono stage is, very simply, to take the very low output from a turntable and boost it so the preamp can handle the signal. It is a phono preamp, basically.
Next, it is quite possible to run 4 speakers and a subwoofer. I'm just not sure you need to because I don't know what you want your system to do. If you only want it to play music, don't worry about having 4 speakers in one room. Get two better speakers that, maybe, don't need a subwoofer.
In audio, there is a general rule every beginner should know:
Used equipment is your friend. I have purchase at least 50 used, vintage pieces of stereo equipment. I have had problems with two pieces, the cost of which were both refunded. (One piece was broken in transit. One was misrepresented.) When it comes to refunds, eBay is also your friend. From some place like craigslist, you are your friend. You'll get to go check out the equipment. Make sure you know how to check it out, but don't worry, there are hundreds of websites to tell you what to do, including this one.
There is another rule in most audio equipment, and this rule is sort of counter intuitive.
All things being equal (both pieces of equipment work as they should), vintage equipment will kick the hell out of new equipment just about every time. For example, I bought a very low end Kenwood integrated amp from 1978 for $50 on Craigs list. It's a beautiful little silver piece rated at about 30 watts per channel. I use it to drive a pair of bookshelf Polk Monitor 4s, which are 4 ohms. I use a sloppy Techniques turntable ($30 off craigslist) with a good cartridge (it came with ghe turntable) and stylus ( its a Shure M91ED with a $50 aftermarket stylus from LP Gear), and the system blows away my best friend's $1000 Denon system from 2009 with a $400 Pro-ject turntable. My best friend will tell you the same. And for the relatively low cost of what I just described ( $130 + cables and cheap speaker wire -- $25?) I can afford to give this system to my best friend, and he can sell his over priced system on eBay to someone like himself.
Of course, at the time the vintage equipment was sold, the late 1970s and early 1980s, it would probably cost well over $1,000 in today's dollar. That's something to think about before you spend $500 for today's system over buying vintage. And I haven't told you the half of it!
Another worry many people have about vintage audio equipment is, if it breaks, it will cost huge bucks to get it fixed. Again, not true. For example, remember the piece of equipment I said was misrepresented on eBay? I had it repaired by an Audiokarma member who also lives here in Denver (Dr Dan, whowever does grear work). He would only use like components to rebuild the piece (I think he order them from around the world), and I think I spent less than $200 on a complete recap of the integrated amp that I then used 2 years exclusively. I still love that amp. It has been moved to my office where it drives a pair of B&W DM202s ($200) aND a Luxman turntable ($175) i learned to tuneup aND has a blast doing it!
Last - don't get into vinyl because of the cool factor. Oh, LPs are defiantly cool - don't get me wrong. They are also a pain in the ass, however, and can easily become all consuming. They are expensive. LPs are tough to take care of: they accumulate stuff in their grooves, attract static, are heat and moisture sensitive, and no matter what you do, degrade with each playing. You have to deal with addressing all of these issues.
Then there is the turntable... As you may have figured out, you'll need new stili for sure, but that's the least of it. You have to figure out how to isolate the TT from undo vibrations. You'll want a good cartridge on tour tonearm. That new cartridge (or new to you) may need a stylus right out of the box. You have to make time consuming adjustments to the tonearm and cartridge everytime you change a cartridge (maybe not that often, unless you become a cartridge whore). You have to make sure the platter on you table rotates at the correct speed. You'll probably need to learn how to replace a TT belt. If you get too deep into this stuff, you'll need to learn how to take a table apart and lubricate it. You may even decide to learn how to mount a new tonearm on your table(s).
But you know what? Nothing will likely sound as good as a well taken care of turntable, but you have to love that girl to get her to sing.
One piece of advise: don't tell the people here you want the absolute best system and you'll sell you stuff to get it. If that is the case, I know several $100,000+ turntable's you could buy, plus $50,000 cartridges, and amps that will run you $250,000. Just tell us a budget. It will make your life much easier!
I hope any of this helps. I've included an couple of articles below. Both are great for helping you understand what you are about to undertake - your first stereo adventure. Remember, do your own research. Salesmen are in it for themselves. Audiokarma is a great place to ask questions, as are several other websites. (You'll learn those.)
BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, HAVE FUN! Don't be afraid to experiment. It's all worth it, though.
Cheers!
http://stereos.about.com/od/buyingastereo/ht/buyingastereo.htm
http://pitchfork.com/features/artic...and-stereo-system-for-your-record-collection/
