I was in the same boat as you.
I've had a Denon amp/m short speaker system for over 2 yrs and to be honest never had a clue,there are more conections on the amp than i ever thought possible.
So when i recently bought my panasonic plasma i got a professional round to fit it and i learnt more in 2hrs than the last 2 yrs,he set everything,the correct cables,set all the speakers up and it now sounds and looks like i've just purchased the whole thing new!.
Hope this helps because it was definaitly worth every penny and a much better education than all the books and mags i've read put together.