Surround Sound Advice

[threeve]

Alright, another one of these threads, lol. But my time has come. I got a PS3 mainly for games, but I've started to get a few BD's (around 15 now), and want me some surround sound and a taste of HD audio. I have extremely little experience in surround besides what I read on here, but I've looked around and found a receiver and speakers. Absolutely can't go over $500, and I don't hear very good things about HTIB's. So basically, will these "work" together?

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-STRDG720-Audio-Video-Receiver/dp/B0015HKR46/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=audio-video&qid=1213435174&sr=1-10

http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-SKS-HT540-Surround-Speaker-System/dp/B000GU78Z4/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=audio-video&qid=1215410711&sr=1-3

More generally, out of curiosity, will any speakers work with any receiver?
And finally, what better options are there for the money, because I'm sure there are some.
Any help is appreciated, I don't post much but you guys help me out a lot just from when I read through the forum. I'm still very much a newbie