Whole home audio in-ceiling/in-wall speakers

I'm finishing my new home build and have been doing a lot of auditioning of speakers for my home theater (HT). I also have to select speakers for my whole-home audio system and have noticed that the number of speaker companies making speakers designed for this purpose has exploded.

I've auditioned some Sonance, Jamo, Paradigm and Speakercraft speakers. One of the biggest problems with choosing this type of speaker is that the display areas/rooms are almost always (in my experience anyway) horribly setup. So, it's often difficult to judge what they might sound like installed in my home even after auditioning.

I'm looking for a mid-grade, mid-cost solution for the majority of my home such that the sound is better than just plain old background music quality but won't cost in the range of audiophile speakers. There are some applications that need only basic sound (i.e. Intercom, doorbell) and some that I want to approach audiophile quality (i.e. workout areas, bar, master bedroom).

So far I've been most impressed with the in-home products from Paradigm but I didn't get a chance to audition the entire line or for very long. They are also quite expensive compared to some other lines.

Any thoughts or experience with this type of speaker application?

I heard some cheap generic stuff in one of the big box stores - I didn't care what brand it was because it sounded terrible and wasn't that cheap either (considering the low quality). So beware, there are definitely major differences in the whole-home audio speaker segment.

I know this whole-home audio is one of the biggest/hottest segments of the AV market today but I'm not surprised there's been no response to this thread. I think many people putting these systems in are your average Joe/Jane and they probably don't even realize there are choices - I suspect they are just going with what the CI's or builders are telling them to use. It's a shame because they have to live with the system for a long time and don't probably realize what they're missing.

I've also found that there is awfully little information, reviews or discussion of speaker systems in this segment... let's hope more AVSForum members start to put them in (or update existing systems) so we can get some more information out there. For now I'm just going to have to do the leg work and rely on my ears to choose... ultimately that's what anyone should do anyway. It would be nice to narrow down the choices based on need though... it's a lot of work!