As a custom integrator & theatre designer a lot of my speaker business is focused around in-wall & in-ceiling speakers. & by a lot I mean 90% of it.
The sway away from traditional box speakers has made me research & actually use a great great many different brands and models. They are an incredibly tough thing to do right. Conventional logic says to box the in-wall. This feature does not, by any means, always yield the "best" results. Nor does not having a back deliver "worse" results.
Most companies, becasue of manufacturing costs, take the same drivers used in their boxed pieces and put them into backless baffles with a cross over & call them voice matched "in-wall" speakers. Well, that doesn't usually work out to be so hot. A driver designed to work in a sealed enclosure put into a much bigger enclosure (a wall cavity) will not sound right, particularly in the mids & bass. But, if it's designed for being put into the wall, then you can achieve great sound.
I'm a dealer of (to list some popular in-walls mentioned on forums): RBH, Klipsch THX ULTRA2, Atlantic Technology. I have used in either samples from the company direct, bought for one time use only, or a client already had: Triad (several models), James, Sonance, Polk. & dozens of others.
All of those brands have backed models available. None of them are even remotely close to what BG offers. The exception being the Klipsch @ $1K a piece which is way way out of the OPs price range. Those are very good for large rooms. So are the BG, but Klipsch, for movies, would be a 2nd place finisher in my opinion. Don't get me started on my experience with Triad
BG inwalls are open backed, but are designed that way on purpose. Call their tech support & ask them about it. They're incredibly nice & will explain why open back is the way to go. BG makes a speaker: PD-6LCRi. Retails @ $500 each. It sounds, no kidding you, as good as their $1600 model R-320. It's that good. We use it all the time! I'm a Sunfire dealer & I prefer it to the Sunfire Trio in-wall that goes for $1100 (and yes, that one's back boxed). Even @ equal money, the BG is better. It just sounds incredible. One of the original founders of KEF & I had a conversation over the phone a few months ago & he said he felt that BG was the best architectural speaker on the market, hands down (even mentioned the PD-6LCRi as the unknown hero of the brand). I agree.
Final note on backed in-walls. They are great if you're worried about sound bleeding into other rooms. Other than that.... BG is the what my company does.
Want a killer system?
3 BG PD-6LCRi in-wall (fronts) @ $500 each = $1500
2 pair BG RT-6CJ in-ceiling (rears) @ $300 pair = $600
Total = $2100
Leaves $700 for a sub 7 that's if you buy @ MSRP. get a little deal on the speakers & spring for a nice sub. You've got something extremely nice for $2800. Best performance in the industry if you ask me.
Power these with a $550 Marantz. The fronts have 2 6" Kevlar woofers each. In your sized room it will be awesome!
A word of advice... get an acoustically transparent screen & put the speakers behind it. It's more expensive, sure, but the overal effect & presentation is really cool.
