When buying a Home Theater system, there are 3 things, that I feel are most important, price, ease of operation, and what all you want out of it. When dealing with price, and ease of operation, I would go with the Panasonic SC-HT730-930 systems. They are at the low end of the price range, are very easy to assemble, and operate, and with its features, you get the most, "bang" for your buck. You can find these systems priced from $200.00, to $500.00 when looking for new, refurbished, or used. If you were to purchase one of these systems, I would add the rear speaker wireless system, both the transmitter & receiver, so you have no wires running to the back of the room. You should be able to find a refurbished system, including the wireless transmitter & receiver for around $300.00 to $350.00, in almost new shape.
   If you want to get a little more spendy,  I would recommend the Bose 3-2-1 Series II system, for the ease of set-up, and the extra  features, and easy operation. It comes with 2 front speakers, a hideaway Acoustimass module, that is your power source and sub-woofer combined. I like this system over others, because of the processing technology that brings out all the effects from sound encoded materials. The media center is as small as cable box, but can be used as your audio from your TV, DVD`s, CD`S, MP3 CD`s, and with the ease of the remote, you can bring out the best of any of the above encoded media. For between 6 to $800.00, you can have the ease of set-up, easy to operate, top quality surround sound, from a 3 speaker system. THIS IS THE SYSTEM, I WOULD RECOMMEND. I hope this helps you in picking and choosing a surround system, to fit you best.