Opinions please - starting a new surround system from scratch

[Jimbo18]

I have a friend (no, really, I do) who currently has no audio/video equipment at all except a Playstation. He's planning to move soon and wants to get a "kickass" system. I don't know the size of the room he will be putting it in yet, but I don't think it will be a large house, so please use 15' x 20" as a guesstimate.

Budget will probably be between $1000 and $1500 for a receiver and 5.1 surround speakers. I don't think he will want to start out with a power amp (nor will that budget allow for it) but I will suggest to him that he gets an AVR with pre-outs so he can upgrade later if he wants.

I think he will mostly be using it for gaming, movies and TV and maybe only 25% for music.

He's not quite ready to buy yet, but my suggestion to him, was to watch CL for some deals, like the Monitor 10s that I picked up cheaply yesterday, then get an AVR online. That's probably the cheaper route, but more difficult because then he has to find the matching center channel also. The surrounds should be a lot easier since they don't need to be a perfect match.

The other option, is to have him buy some of the current Monitor series, say Monitor 65's from Newegg and the matching center channel and surrounds.

I have never heard any of the new Polk speaker lines, so I am not much help to him there. We will, before he buys, check them out if we can find them locally, of course, I was just wondering what people on here thought. New or vintage? And if new, what's a good 5.1 system say with a budget of $500 for the AVR and $1000 for the speakers used more for movies and gaming than music.

[decal]

What attributes constitutes "kick ass system" to your friend?

[Jimbo18]

What attributes constitutes "kick ass system" to your friend?

Good question. I assume, since he has really only heard my system lately, which he likes but it's hardly "kickass", and some at BB, that he is looking for something with a big soundstage and that will sound dynamic for movies and games.

I am not as much help to him as I would like to be since I have only just started paying attention to audio equipment lately after a long absence. My experience is limited and I wondered what current systems might fit his budget and work well for movies and games, more so than for strictly music, although he will use it for that also, and his taste in music seems to be mostly rock from the 90's to today.

[rpf65]

For the AVR, I would probably look into a factory refurbished unit. Go to BB, and listen to a few manufacturers, and whichever his ear likes, look it up online.
As far as speakers, he could start with a 3 channel, maybe stretch to 3.1, but that would be pushing his budget. Lot of fairly decent entry level AVR's under $300, and say RTIa1, CSIa4, and PSW 505 would probably work for now.