home sound system advice

[pierce]

i'm not sure if this belongs here or off topic, but i'm sure the mods will work their mojo if need be.

i current have a small "bookshelf" stereo that i use for most of my home audio needs. i also have my tivo, and my phono going thru it. our apt is small, so i can here it throughout if need be. however, i would like to have satellite speakers in different rooms that i could engage/disengage as needed.

i currently have a 3 channel splitter that would let me do this. i am aware that i would probably lose volume at the main speakers. i also don't want to dump a ton of money into a stereo at this time. (ie. receivers, power amps, powered speakers, etc)

so...is it just a matter of finding some small speakers, and running speaker wires. do ohms come into play for stereo speaker connections in the same manner as for bass gear? (im not sure how home stereo speakers are wired, and what the ohm ratings are).

i see lots of speakers on craigslist for cheap. some of these apparently are surround sound sets. could i use the surround set as individual speakers, or is their wiring type/range proprietary to surround sound receivers.

thanks

pierce