I would vote for not getting the 5.1 sound right now. It's better to have a high quality front stage and nothing in the rear than to have crappy surround.
Pick up a nice surround receiver, and get some speakers. You can live with just two, as most receivers will do a "phantom" center channel.
Check out www.shoponkyo.com for receivers. Sometimes they have cheap, good refurbs. They did have one that was 90 buck shipped, it's almost the same receiver I have now and it's awesome.
As far as the speakers go, that more or less depends on taste and budget. I I had a thread asking about speakers a few weeks ago, it has some good info on it. I ended up going with Athena Audition speakers, although I have only bought a center channel right now. If you have any decent stores around you go take a listen and find out what kind of sound you like. I was going to get an all Polk setup (and Polk has some good, cheap stuff) but it sounded a bit too mellow for me. On the other hand, many people consider the Athenas that I enjoy too harsh.
For $500 what I would get is a Onkyo refurb receiver, Athena Audition bookshelf speakers and center (200 bucks) and a powered subwoofer. Also, keep an eye on Craigslist, for that kinda bread you may get lucky and find a killer used system.
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