[imcarthur]

In wall speakers suck. And in ceiling speakers usually suck even more. Concealed speakers are typically 2 cheap-ass drivers stuck on a cheap-ass plastic baffle board with a cheap-ass crossover & installers jam it into an unknown air cavity without care for acoustical performance. No cabinet. No damping. So forget balanced & full frequency response. They make noise so it is good enough. The custom install industry thrives on them. Cheap to buy & the biggest profit margin in the audio/video industry.

So, my advice is to buy at least 3 box speakers for the front (L-C-R) + 2 subs (I agree that 2 are better than 1 for bass coherency/phasing & SLAM). Side & rear effects speakers ideally are identical to the fronts but they can be on wall or BOXED in wall for room fit. In ceiling speakers should have no place in a home theater imho.

Flat panel vs projector is mainly a space/convenience/cost decision. I ran a projector off of a PC for years but I finally killed it & went to a more simplified 55" plasma. I don't miss it. People tend to buy huge screens that overpower the room & they seldom sit far enough away (think head-panning as things move across the screen).

Buy better electronics than you really want to. It does make a difference. Figure out your feature set & shop accordingly.

Ian