7.1 HT under about 3k

Unless you're totally sure that you don't want/can't fit the center rear channels, I will not get a receiver/processor that doesn't do 7.1 processing. If you've got the room, for movies encoded with a 6th or 7th channel, having that 6th or 7th channel is definitely a more pleasurable experience.

With that said, the rear centers have very little information and so I definitely won't worry too much about it. I would use the funds to build the best 5.1 system you can. You can pretty much throw any old speaker in the back and it'll still improve your experience IMO. Timbre matching is really not needed for those rear centers, although obviously, having speakers that match the rest of your system will make a subtle difference. So you can always add those rear centers as budget permits.

I would avoid 6.1. I would also look at the suggested speaker placement diagrams on the Dolby web site for a 7.1 set up; e.g., you do not want rear speakers placed in the center of the back of the room.

7.1 is better than 6.1 but 6.1 is better than 5.1 if you're watching Star Wars or something. Also, he actually might want rear speakers placed in the center (or near center spread out a bit) of the back of the room. Check out the suggested speaker placement diagrams on the THX web site. They recommend something different from Dolby. Just so you know, there are different ways to set up your system.

Bruce, I see what you're getting at now. In the case of DPLIIx and/or Logic 7, I'm not quite sure what would be the best way of setting up the rear centers. I have a THX Ultra2 capable receiver so I set it up according to their directions. I tried having the rear centers spaced out, but found them better closer together (my receiver had auto calibration so there were different settings for different rear center distances). DPLII sounded find either way I think. But if the original poster is going to be listening to multichannel music, I think it makes more sense to have them spaced further apart.

Lots of good advice here. I think that the 2 extra speakers in the back that turns your system from 5.1 to 7.1 should be viewed as "complementary." In your system, they are least important by a very very long stretch. So do not spend money getting two extra speakers if it means cutting somewhere else in your system.

Joncourage, I might be missing something here, do you plan to use the amps in the Onkyo?