Here's how I would start with this project:

1) Design the layout for the room. Since you're basically starting from scratch, I would look around the net at other's home theaters and decide which look (and/or looks) you like the best. Then, figure out seating, lighting, HVAC, and acoustical treatments first. You might also want to look into creating an equipment closet to try to isolate equipment sounds from the room. Once this stuff is in place, you can move onto the actual purchasing of electronics, speakers, and the like.

2) Figure out your budget. Here's one possible breakdown of your 5 grand:

950/7100 = $1700
DVD player = $500
Speaker Set-up = $1500
Room materials = $1100
Cables and the like = $200


3) Now that you have your basic room design and budget in place, you can start looking at speakers. Look at what type of speakers, be it bookshelf monitor, floor standers, in-walls work best in your room design. The above advice about trying to stay within the same manufacturer of speakers is very good advice. That will give you a very coherent soundstage across the entire room. If you can fit 5 full range speakers into the design, by all means go for it. However, this usually isn't all that pratical. I would stick with floor standers for the mains, a good center channel, bookshelf monitors for the surrounds, and, if possible, bipolar surrounds for the rears. This combination should give you the best mix for your budget. The only upgrade from that is to replace the surround bookshelf speakers with another pair of floor standers.

My opinion with the great stereo subwoofer debate is to go WITH stereo subs. Low bass is a little more directional that most will say and the stereo subs will fill out your mains very nicely. A sub is for more than just the rumble. A good 10" sub will more than adequately add to almost any floor standing speaker. If you want rumble, you might want to look into tactile transducers for that job.

The best advice for which speaker company is to go out and listen to everything you possibly can that hopefully fits into your budget. Pick out your favorite CD and try to play it on everything. Listen also on the high-end systems as they can tell you what you may or may not be missing from any of the lower end gear. Internet speaker companies are nice for price and most do give trial periods. If you willing to put up with the speaker shuffle, they're definitely an option especially in your price range. If you are of the creative type, there are some really nice DIY kits out there also.

4) Set-up everything and enjoy!

Hope this helps. As mentioned before, this is just one way of doing things. Good luck!!