Manny,
$2000 is a good amount, but you will still have to make some hard decisions- My suggested breakout of your budget:
Receiver: $450
Mains, center, and surround speakers (7): $1000
Sub: $500
Wiring: $50
One of the first questions you will have to answer for yourself is how to allocate the budget for the mains, center, and surrounds. Do you want to have the exact same speakers all the way around (better for DVD-A or SACD audio and best for ensuring an even soundstage all the way around you), or do you focus budget on the center, left front, and right front, and go with a less expensive speaker for surrounds (some who do primarily home theater do this, as most energy in movies comes from the center and fronts). You will find fanatics on both sides of this fence - the only way to figure this out is to go listen to both setups for yourself.
Depending on your tastes you may want to pull more money out of the speakers and throw it at the sub. More money in a sub equals either more volume (SPL) or lower extension (deeper bass). I would not plan on spending any less than $450-500 on the sub. I tried to do it, but subs below this price point just did not sound good to me - they either did not have enough low frequency extension (no really deep bass), or they sounded like they were playing one note regardless of what was fed to it (boomy, muddy)
For the sub, I'd highly recommend both SVS and HSU in this price range. Both sell direct over the internet, but have rock-solid reputations with the audioholics community.
There will be tens of different speaker manufacturers and models in this price range... lots of options and complexity. And of course everyone will recommend what they bought for themselves...
On the speakers my advice is to find a high end outlet and do some critical listening with some test material that you know well (CD or DVD). Listen to stuff well outside of your price range, find what your "ear" likes the most, then ask to see stuff in your range that approximates that sound.
Then come back here and ask for recommendations based on what sound you liked or did not like. That should help narrow the field to a manageable level.
Another option you may want to look at is limiting your system to 5.1 for the near term. That will allow you to put more money into the speakers and sub... then when you can save a bit more buy the extra two surrounds at a later date. Almost everything today is encoded in 5.1, with the occasional 6.1. 7.1 is a product of fancy processing to create 4 surround channels.
Another thing to consider is bass management. All small rooms have modes where bass frequencies are either emphasized or reduced. These modes can make even multi-thousand dollar subs sound boomy- so you may want to consider a parametric equalizer for just your sub. The Behringer Feedback Destroyer is a popular piece of equipment for this and can be had or about $100 (you can search for it on this forum) and it will have a night and day sort of impact on the way the sub sounds.
I hope this helps!! Remember, a lot of the joy in this hobby is in the research, the auditioning, and the anticipation of the purchase!
~Josh
