Yes I would definitely go with a 5.1 system since you have un-closeable openings out to other rooms. This I would say is your most significant challenge to reproducing great audio. You need to "fill" your room with sound. Your listening room should have as much upholstered furniture, drapes and carpet as possible to help deaden the liveliness of the environment. I have the same situation at home took these steps. Now as far as your budget goes, $2K may be a bit light to build a brand new 5.1 system so you may want to consider purchasing well cared for pre-owned components on Audiogon. Make sure the seller has a high rating. How about this: a 5.1 AVR (i.e. Marantz, Yamaha, Onkyo, Denon, NAD. etc), pair of decent bookshelf loudspeakers (i.e. B&W, Monitor Audio, PSB, Boston Acoustics, etc), CD player (Marantz, NAD, Sony, Denon, etc), pair of surround satellite speakers, powered sub-woofer and cable. If you browse deep enough in the Audiogon equipment for sale link, I'm sure you'll find a great combination of pre-owned equipment. I would purchase preowned over brand new mass market components. Just my opinion.
New comer looking for help to buy!!
Hi, new to home theater and read the frequently asked questions and that was helpful but a little overwhelming. My main room where I game and watch movies is a pretty open room. I have the dining room to my left and kitchen to my right. So sound would go everywhere. Sit about ten feet from the tv and my couch is sitting right against the wall. I just honestly don’t know what route I should go with 3.1 or 5.1. I have an Xbox x, ps4 pro and 4K tv. What I’m willing to spend on equipment is around 2grand. Any guidance or thoughts on this is appreciated.