I bought my speakers from http://www.hometech.com/ and am using the ArhiTech 5 1/2 inch speakers for whole house audio and a pair of ArchiTech 8.5 inch Kevlar speakers for the rear channel of my surround sound which are in the ceiling as well. I am very happy with the performance and cost. SInce I was installing 8 pairs of speakers in my new home, i wanted something decent and not too costly. I figured that I could always upgrade later if I wanted better sound - but after hearing the results, that isn't going to be needed.

I think the trick was that I made insulated speaker boxes for all of my speakers and installed the boxes before drywall. The boxes really help concentrate the sound and make a relatively cheap speaker sound good.

I would recommend doing a search on Amazon.com and reading the reviews of the speakers. Jami and Polk seem to be favorites - but they are also more than what i wanted to spend.

Much depends on your budget and how you plan on using the speakers. If they are just being used as background music what you buy isn't as critical as if you are using them for critical listening. For example, if you are using in-wall and in-ceiling speakers in a home theatre surround set-up, the quality of the speakers are very important.

Again, your budget, the quantity of speakers you want, and if you need better performance in some areas than others should determine what speakers you get.

Greg

Sniffdog, I'm surprised that you built boxes for the walls. You may have limited the deep bass extension by doing so. In-wall speakers do not normally need boxes: the studs and drywall perform that function. Furthermore, by employing the whole space inbetween the studs, the bass extension is usually very good. Usually all that is necessary is to put insulation in the wall if that is possible before the drywall goes up.

I used to be in the business, but am too far out of the loop to give you recommendations, Tim, though I always liked Paradigm speakers.

Steve.