In-wall speakers
 

Anyone installed in-wall home theater speakers.

I am looking to install fronts and center in the wall - not sure about the rears yet. I may put the rears in the ceiling.

This is for a basement theater setup.

I have done it for whole house audio and considered doing it for a theater. What you propose is very reasonable. There are some good quality in wall speakers out there (NHT has some excellent quality stuff). When you place them in the wall, you might consider forming a box around the speaker using a 2X4 above and below the speaker. This will give you tighter bass response. Its not strictly necessary, but it will help. As far as using ceiling speakers for the surround speakers, this will work just fine. I have seen this recommend as well and you will get a really nice effect especially if you want the sound system to not be an obvious part of the room. Make sure you place them about where you would sit when watching. If you have a 7.1 system the rears should be a few feet above and behind the listener's.

The only downside is: 1. Limited options for speakers, and 2. limited flexibility for speaker placement (plus, make sure that there isn't anything in the wall where you want to place them!).

Good Luck.

I've done it for the rears. I used Polks, they're a bit expensive but I figure they'll be there a while. You should use speaker wire that's rated for in a wall, not plain speaker wire. You should also keep speaker wires that run parallel to electrical wires at least 18" apart. Try to cross electrical wires at 90°.