I think this is the real problem: these people have already experienced surround sound. I'm in the same financial boat as most of my friends (if not worse), but I can stand to upgrade slowly, piece by piece. Surround/center speakers will be my last purchase in this path. However, since these guys jumped the gun, they don't want to go "backwards" and they're stuck buying the whole thing at one time.
My (former) landlord always purchased the cheapest stuff. My current landlord (same property) doesn't purchase anything. Grr.... BTW, there's a number of those check cashing places near my apartment.
