I have several customers who have asked me the same question. If it was me I would probably use floorstanding speakers to the extent possible, but the reality of having a fully-furnished room and then adding big speakers and cables galore is not always practical. And we haven't even addressed the WAF yet.

I am not much of an in-wall fan. Lots of manufacturers offer them and claim theirs to be the greatest thing since the CD, and I have heard a couple of in-walls that I could probably live with. At the end of the day though, you are cutting holes in your walls and making various and sundry sacrifices along the way.

If this sounds anything remotely close to your own situation, I recommend auditioning some of the on-wall speakers that are available. There are some pretty damn good speakers out there these days that allow for clean installation, very good if not great HT performance, and can easily be taken with you to your next home without leaving gaping holes in the walls or necessitating expensive repairs.

Side note: I've seen homes on the market claiming everything was all set for HT because they used in-walls. The only problem with that is that audio is not a one-size-fits-all issue.

But that is just my (luddite) opinion. Good luck.

Yes I have, some with more satisfying results than others.

There are plenty of bookshelf speakers out there that are great speakers, and with great care you can assemble a very nice HT system using a combination of bookshelf/monitor speakers and a sub. The only issue I have in doing so in a HT setup is that the crossover point (or high filter pass)on the sub generally needs to be set much higher. That results in the sub calling attention to itself. I find that distracting; however, I know a few people who don't aren't bothered by that issue.

Depending on what you are buying, you can often find floorstanders that yield a great deal more bass output for a price equal to or less than you'd pay for bookshelf speakers and stands. That leaves the sub with the task of dealing with the true low end frequencies, which are less directional.

Since this is strictly for a HT system, you might consider auditioning wall-mountable dipole speakers for the sides and rears. Some manufacturers of monitor-size speakers also offer wall-mount kits. This would probably save you some money and free up some "real estate".