whatever you ultimately end up with, the receiver should be a/v capable and handle full 5.1 or 7.1 setups. Even if you start out with a 2.1 speaker system the a/v receiver will not be the limit to how far you can advance your system.
we need to know some of your requirements and preferences -
room size
speaker type preference (large vs. small, tower vs. bookshelf, tiny satellites)
what are your input sources (cable/satellite, game console, DVD/blu-ray ??)
HDMI 1.3 or HDMI 1.4a (3D TV capable)