Can I find matching speakers for this Sony Receiver?

The Sony 197 is a stereo receiver and therefor connot be used in a surround sound setup. You would need a 5 or 7 channel receiver for that.

As for what speakers you need it all depends on what speakers you like. Just about any half way decent speaker would be O.K. with the 197. The only thing you need to worry about is the speakers Ohm rating. You need an 8 ohm speaker which is what most speakers are. A 4 Ohm rated speaker would at least cause your receiver to shut down and at worst could damage it. Don't worry about power ratings too much. Just find a pair of 8 ohm speakers which sound good to you.

If you give us a budget we can recommend a few different brands to consider.

If surround sound is what you really want then we also need to know the size of your room, music, movies, games, or all the above, what type of tv/display do you have and what other components are you going to hook up to it?

Ya, you need a new receiver. There are many threads in the receivers forum you should browse thru. Then you will have a better idea of what features you might want and how much it will cost. The most popular around here are Onkyo, Pioneer and Denon but Harman Kardon, Yamaha and most others are just fine too. Sony's are a bit less thought of in general but the ES line is more than adequate.


I'd get thrown off the board if I didn't strongly suggest you get one eventually.

That's what we usually recommend. When you buy a less than adequate 5.1 speaker system you invariably wind up quickly replacing it with a better one. If you do decide to go that route make sure you consider what center speaker will be available when shopping for the front pair. The fronts and center need to match as closely as possible. The sub woofer doesn't need to be from the same company and SVS, HSU, Elemental Designs and PartsExpress are the most often recommended around here.

You get more bang for the buck with bookshelf speakers than towers (a large part of the cost is the cabinet) but many, myself incuded, just like towers.

As for which speakers to get, it depends on what sounds good to you. But a quick wander thru the speaker forum will give you an idea of what we usually recommend to be considered. Newegg.com has some real good prices on last years Polk Monitor series speakers. But it's not a good price if you don't care for the way they sound. You need to do some leg work and listen to a few before deciding otherwise the mistake could be costly.

Here are a few others: SVS, HSU, Axiomaudio, Elementaldesigns, Theaudioinsider and Ozhometheater for Swans's, Aperionaudio and Ascendaucoustics. There are many more but I can't list everything!

For in-store models my personal favorites are Infinity, Polk, Energy, Klipsch (considered very bright sounding) with Definitive Technology, Paradigm and others in the specialty stores probably out of your price range.

And of course there is the used marked if you don't mind picking something up off ebay, Audiogon.com or my favorite, craigslist. It can be tricky but the rewards can be phenomenal.
 
And then there are pre-packaged kits from places like Partsexpress.com for those of you who are handy with a spanner. A lot of choices to consider.

There are receivers that can handle a 4 ohm load but I'd stick with 8 ohm speakers if you plan on using the 197 for a while.

For $500 I would get the best bookshelf speakers you can.  Then save for the subwoofer, then replace the receiver.

Ones that I like* are the Axiom M22's.  You can get them for less than $500.  Remember you will need stands as well. 




* Everyone has opinions about their favorite speakers.  What I like may be different from what you like.

For $500, there's no point in getting cheap floorstanders when you can get excellent bookshelves. Once you get a sub, there is no reason to have floorstanders, since the sub will take over for the low end (the bass).  

The bookshelves I suggested play low enough (50-60Khz) to be acceptable by themselves until you get a sub.

If you increase the budget to $800-$1000, then maybe it makes sense to get floorstanders. 

Not sure why this posted twice. 

It's not about getting a sub to match the speakers, it's about getting the sub that will give you the level of performance in your listening room.  If you are an action movie nut and want to really feel the explosions in your open floor plan house, then you need a sub that can move a lot of air like the dual 18" A7-900 http://www.edesignaudio.com/product_info.php?cPath=2_41&products_id=606 .  If you have a small listening room and just want to get the lower octaves without sacrificing size or money then the Dayton Sub-80 may fit the bill http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=300-631 . 

I would say that I gave you options on both ends of the spectrum but I stayed away from the $20,000 type subs.  But hopefully you get my point that there is a ton of options.  We can't really suggest anything without knowing your goals and budget as well as constraints.  Some guys can't get a big sub because of WAF (wife approval factor).  If they do, they will be sleeping in the shipping box.  I can build any size sub I want as long as it looks good.

That brings me to my next option - DIY.  If you are moderately handy with power tools, you can build your own speakers and subs for a fraction of the price of a quality set of retail speakers.  I've seen budgets range from $30/speaker to $1,000/speaker.  Sub drivers can range from $50 to $1,500.  Same with sub amps.  If you want to explore the DIY option, then check out the Speaker and Sub section here.  I've helped a few people with their sub designs.