Thanks for the advice.  I'll plan to do the bookshelf speakers for sure and the height and openess of the room was the main concern for me as well. 

Here is a plan of the the common areas of the house that I am wanting to get filled with sound.  Like I said earlier, a majority of the time it will just be low volume so you can talk over the music, yet hear the music everywhere you go, but I would still like a decent enough ceiling speaker in the other locations so the few times we do want it to play loud that it still sounds decent (doesn't need to win any soundQ points, mainly clear and undistorted for those loud uses).  The black circles are hypothetical ceiling speakers.  All the green and yellow boxes are can lights and fixtures.  I already have wire anywhere I can't easily get wire to so that won't be an issue.  Going with some better bookshelves, would some of the lesser priced ceiling speakers like the polk 8" or monoprice be good?

What are your thoughts on putting a conventional sub box over in the dining room next to the china cabinet as there is about 22" of clearence in the recessed portion on the left wall?

Thanks!

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