Home audio & video: Help in choosing the correct stereo reveiver

Help in choosing the correct stereo reveiver

I have 6 pairs of speakers already installed in the ceiling throughout my new house that I need to run off my receiver. I will be getting a speaker selector to connect and run all speakers to the receiver. I also will be connecting a 5 disc multi CD player to this receiver and need it to be able to connect an ipod adapter/connector and also have AM/FM tuner. What size of receiver do I need? I had a 100 watt per channel sony receiver in a prior house and it burned up. It was also running 6 pair speakers... Sales rep said it needed to have more watts per channel. 200 watts per channel? How many watts per channel does a person need when running 6 pairs of speakers? Any recommendations on brand/model of receiver that would work best? About speaker selectors... I already own (2) 4 pair speaker selectors, but need to operate 6 pairs of speakers. Can I combine these 2 somehow to run the 6 pairs or do I need to buy new? As far as price. I'd like to spend as little as possible, but obviously want something with good quality that will work good without problems.