Arizona Mike,
I agree with gonk on choosing bookshelf speakers for their versatility. Once you have built-ins, you are stuck with it. What if you want to upgrade? You can, but it will be a lot of hassle and the choices will be rather small.

Ever considered kit speakers? For your budget, I’d say they are the closest thing to “perfect” speakers. Dollar per dollar, they can beat just about all commercial brands. I am a happy owner of kit speakers and a home made (from ground up) subwoofer. Try this thread: http://ubb.outlawaudio.com/ubb/Forum15/HTML/001047.html

Also, try this http://ubb.outlawaudio.com/ubb/Forum4/HTML/000280.html

Looking for custom finishes? This is a great site: http://www.acoustic-visions.com/

Good luck and keep the Gunslingers posted.