Newbie needs link to speakers for beginners..

I have been reading and searching for post to explain the workings of the speaker system. I have researched the receiver portion, now I'm trying to see how the speaker system works. I have been reading about setting the speakers to small/large, the crossover, and setting the hz. Is there a link that will help explain these things and an overall explanation of a complete system.
I am ingorant to these things, but am trying to learn before I buy.

Check out this Polk info site. It's not just for their speakers (tho I like their products, good quality and sound), and is informative for a beginner:

http://www.polkaudio.com/education/advice.php

thx, I will look it over and then ask questions.

See here - http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/speaker.htm