If you want something truely inexpensive, decent sounding and unobtrusive, buy a Teac AL700P. It is a small 3-channel Digital/switching amp and it has gotten excellent reviews on some of the audio geek sites. It can be purchased for $99 brand spanking new! It may not have the typical audiophile overkill, but it would be a truely inexpensive way to test the waters and see if 5.1 is right for you.
Check out audiocircle and audioasylum for details. Also, several companies are modding these and creating really inexpensive audiophile amplifiers. However, most of the hot rod mods remove one channel of amplification. Lastly, there are some easy DIY mods for these, so you could buy two of them, modify them for high performance 2-channel output, use one for surrounds and one (one channel of it) for the center channel.
Enjoy,
TIC
Check out audiocircle and audioasylum for details. Also, several companies are modding these and creating really inexpensive audiophile amplifiers. However, most of the hot rod mods remove one channel of amplification. Lastly, there are some easy DIY mods for these, so you could buy two of them, modify them for high performance 2-channel output, use one for surrounds and one (one channel of it) for the center channel.
Enjoy,
TIC