Help out a poor audio ignoramus

[FartinMowler]

I would go and score the best reciever (Yamaha/Denon/Nad) and a pair of nice quality speakers first and then later buy rear speakers and a Powered sub not passive. (Polk/Infinity/Klipsch) ...Small JBL speakers for the rear are cheap to find and a small powered sub (Polk) with some wattage will shake the pants off your girlfriend. The center channel is the most important investment if you care about watching movies (Paradigm) ... I've been to friends homes that have those cheap Walmart "Surround stereo in a box sets" that just sound horrible.