There are actually some decent in-walls these days. Boston, B&W, and Paradigm all make in-walls and Von Schweikert's VSX model should be out by the end of summer. According to Geoff Cintron, a moderator and reviewer at AR, these Cambridge Soundwork's Newton in-walls are terrific...this coming from a guy with Maggie 3.6R's, so it's safe to say he knows what he's talking about. Don't get me wrong, you still have a much larger selection with monitors (and likely better sound quality), however the manufacturers are trying to make the speakers much more lifestyle friendly. We all know that Bose sells their Lifestyle systems for two reasons:
1) The name
2) The size

It sure isn't the sound.