I know this is the Bryston forum with that said, here is what I would recommend to meet your requirements:
- clean looking space: hidden speakers, audio components
- excellent sound given the above,
- relatively easy on the wallet
Speakers - high quality in walls (vs in ceilings) with paintable grills. If you want some bottom end: Substage 100 subwoofer I used previously (sitting its box now)
Amp(s):
- used Sonic T amp (if listening at low levels only) $20 - $40. If you take off the cover, the amp itself less the external power supply is smaller than a small cell phone.
- Parasound Z amp - a "real" solid state amp (class A/B) eg not digital switching in a very small package. I have two for auxillary systems (both unused currently). Highly versitle: headphone output, can be daisy chained (line level), variable gain (at the back), 12V triggers