Well, since Opie popped in I guess I will too. Perlite is great for germinating and sprouting seeds. As Opie says, I don't recommend rockwool either (although a lot of people use it) for two reasons: it's natural ph is too high and too hard to control properly, and it retains too much moisture.

Get a couple of 12 or 16-oz styrofoam cups, poke a couple of small holes in the bottom, fill with perlite, set them in about 1/2-inch of water, deposit your seeds slightly below the surface, cover with plastic wrap to increase humidity, and your seeds will sprout in 3-5 days on average. I have about a 90% germination rate with perlite alone. You can even keep them in the cups for another week or longer, until you see roots starting to come out of the bottom holes, which allows them to have a root system and some growth under their belts before transplanting to a bubbler or pot. A teaspoon of vermiculite mixed in around the seeds will speed up germination slightly, with the sprouts showing about 1 day ahead of those without the vermiculite, but other than that it doesn't really increase success rate.