[quote name='jpw21683']Just make sure what you purchase actually accepts surround sound inputs (6-plug RCA, optical, coax).
A couple years ago (before knowing anything about home theater) I bought a Durabrand "Surround Sound System" from Wal-Mart for ~$60. Five satellite speakers and a small sub. However, all it had were two-channel RCA (red & white) inputs, so it didn't even produce surround sound (just left and right channels spread out to 5 speakers).
It's been a couple years ago, so hopefully they don't sell that garbage anymore to unsuspecting customers.[/QUOTE]
Actually, your durabrand surround system, while probably shitty, also probably accepted dolby pro-logic, This is a 2-Channel encoded surround signal, which produces a fairly good surround solution, (left/right center mono surround) which is what, for example the wii uses for it's surround, as well as all analog tv broadcasts.
What you get through an optical or coax is dolby digital or dts, which in most cases sounds quite a bit better. It gives you stereo surrounds and a discrete subwoofer channel that the prologic does not.
Anyway, just thought that could use clearing up, but i'd tend to agree with jpw that you should probably get something with a few optical and coax digital inputs for dolby digital and dts decoding. However, even with a prologic only surround setup (white/red rca plugs only), if your devices and receiver are configured correctly, you can get very good sounding surround games and dvds/tv.
Also, check craigslist for surround systems. I got a great Denon receiver (which was about 500 new for 60 bucks) it's a few years old but sounds amazing. There are a ton of Hi-fi crazies that upgrade all the time and dump there stuff pretty often.
