What do you build your system around?

I would choose the speakers first since they are the interface between the source material and your ears.  Pick a receiver that is capable of driving them and has the features you want.  Choose source units based on the material you watch/listen to.

Another vote for speakers.  Barring accident or abuse they will last for many years, especially since they aren't subject to technological obsolescence - unlike receivers.  Even if you decide to upgrade later for aethstic reasons, you can always sell them or hand them down to someone else. 

I've had the same speakers for the better part of twenty years, now.  I've been through four receivers in that time.  I bought them during the laserdisc era.  My receiver at the time didn't handle Dolby Digital (AC-3 as it then called) so I bought one that did.  Then DVD came in, and I needed a receiver with two digital audio inputs.  When I replaced my old analog widescreen TV with an HDTV, I wanted a receiver that did component video switching, as the new set had component inputs. 

There's a good chance that you'll also replace your receiver - because it doesn't have enough inputs for all your toys or because somebody has invented some cool new feature that we can't even imagine now - long before your speakers either wear out or you just decide to upgrade them. 

(WARNING:  You will be infected with the upgrade bug.  It is just an inevitable consequence of starting on this hobby.  Just try not to go overboard.  You might consider putting someone else in charge of your money and having that person give you an allowance.  Or as some of the members call it, "marriage". )

I went from Pioneer to Kenwood to Denon to Onkyo.  But the speakers are the same Atlantic Technology 5-piece package (plus subwoofer sold separately) that I bought all those years ago from One Call for around $1,000.  They have sounded good with every one of those receivers, especially so on two channel music, which is rare with surround sound systems built with movies in mind.  

Regards,

Joe

I would also concur on speakers.  Now, I've went through tons, but for the most part, I upgraded where I wanted, etc.   But you can hold onto good speakers for years.  The interface for speakers doesn't change.  And if you treat them well, they will last you a very long time.

Formats change.  You'll end up changing a receiver a few times, to get new features.  DVD players?  Change.  TVs?  Better and better keep coming.  Blueray?  etc.

But speakers ... good ones.. they will last.

About 15 years ago, I had a set of speakers I really, really loved, but when we moved, I turned them over to my sister as it would be easier to get something else later.  I was down to visit about 3 months ago, and that set - Infinity Overture 3s, Overture 1 rears, etc... they sound just as good now as when I bought them.

That's longevity.  If you're going to start somewhere with something that will last, speakers are it.

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Exactly.  Think about it like furniture or a wardrobe.  Some things are investment pieces, things that are going to last, others are basically disposable.  When you move into your first place it probably makes sense to spend the most on a good bed, and cheap out on the dinette set and sofa.  A good suit or two, jeans that can go casual or for work and a few other basic pieces are where you'd want to spend your clothing dollars.  Fad accessories and novelty t-shirts that you may wear for a year or two you spend less on.  Same concept. (OK, I've got to stay out of the office break room at lunch time, where the women watch What Not to Wear every day.  Even if Stacey London is starting to grow on me.)

If you're buying what is, by definition, a starter HT system, get a decent receiver that has the features you want and enough connections for today (with maybe one or two to spare), but realize that you probably won't get more than five year's use out of it, at least in your "main" HT.  Five years from now you may be living somewhere else and making more money and that receiver can go in the bedroom for music and to add a little "oomph" to movies.  

Now, you haven't mentioned a budget, but if you find yourself pushing against it you might also want to go cheaper on the sub to start.   A good set of 5 mains is more critical to most of the sound you'll hear out of most soundtracks, and the front three speakers are the most important of all.  You can always get a low-end powered sub for around $80 to start, and then replace it (or add to it) with a better one when you put a few bucks aside down the road.  Far more important to invest in good timbre-matched main speakers (critically the front three) than to have china-rattling bass.  Of course, if you can afford to spend a couple of hundred on a good sub to start with, so much the better.  But if you have to choose, make the mains your investment pieces and your sub a disposable accessory.

Regards,

Joe