What you mean by "hardwired"? Do you mean speaker cables connected through the walls? Does it work wirelessly now (I know there are some systems out there with wireless rear speakers)?

I guess I mean speaker cables run through the walls (I'm not up on all the technical jargon). The system now has some pretty long wires that go w/ the speakers but they aren't long enough to run through the walls to the places where the speakers need to be placed. Can other wires be substituted?

In most cases, I'd say yes, you can substitute wires long enough to run through the walls. The big possible "gotchas" are 1) you can't run veeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry long cables without expecting at least a little change in the sound (since long cables increase resistance and that affects how cleanly and/or loudly your system can play); and 2) apparently some home theater in a box systems have proprietary cable connectors, which would have to be grafted onto the wires in the wall.

Also, you can consider running under carpets, or above base molding (there are companies that in fact supply base molding designed to hide speaker wires). It depends upon how much you want to spend, and the configuration of the room your equipment is in.

What's "mid priced" equal in $$$'s? (and what does "DH" stand for?)

DH= dear husband

You can have the wires run before you put up the sheetrock if you know where everything is going to go. You need to use wire that is fire rated but the builder/electrician will know that. I'd look into what system you want to put in now because you want to take care of any special requirements before you close up the walls.