hey i looking to spend $500-700 on a system.

I am looking for thoughts on one of these two:

1) STF-2 Subwoofer
Ventriloquist 6 speaker surround set
(I WILL NOT be using all six speakers only five of them)
this comes in a speaker package PRICE $600 shipped.
http://www.hsuresearch.com/products/performance2.html

OR

2) Polk R50 fronts
hsu stf-1 sub
Polk rm7 center
Polk rm7 satlites for surrounds
PRICE $700 shipped

Both with onkyo 606. Can each system handle new codecs? Option 2 will slightly hurt the bank

can anyone comment on wheather the hsu set would work fine without the sixth speaker. Also are there any recomendations that you guys are sure is better in the $600 range MAX

If I had to chose just between these two, I like option 1) better (and yes, there's no reason why cannot use it w/o the back center) simply because it's a matched set. As much as I like Polk R50's, pairing them with such a tiny center will make an inferior system IMHO.

I have not heard the Ventriloquist set so I cannot actually recommend it over Polks on sound properties.

the center i said is actually more money than the cs1 but, the cs1 is full sized. Its way too huge for a family room setup. perhaps in two years when i make a theater room. Yeah it seems like option one is good. I am just worried that because it is made to be a 6.1 system 5.1 might have problems