Deposit first? NEVER
You need to do a lot of homework. If you buy used locally, you should be able to resell without much loss if you don't like the set up.
Personally, I feel that you must have a center if theater is important to you. The center is the most important speaker in theater. Make sure the center, right and left do match sonically.
Sealed speakers may work much better than ported in that situation. The other option is small speakers that are designed to be wall mounted such as Gallos. If you do a sub, your optimal placement most likely would be outside of that recessed area. Even with big speakers, moving the bass out (behind the sofa/under a coffee table...) will help.
2 channel listening will suffer with imaging but that's a sacrifice you will have to make for theater and space.
You need to do a lot of homework. If you buy used locally, you should be able to resell without much loss if you don't like the set up.
Personally, I feel that you must have a center if theater is important to you. The center is the most important speaker in theater. Make sure the center, right and left do match sonically.
Sealed speakers may work much better than ported in that situation. The other option is small speakers that are designed to be wall mounted such as Gallos. If you do a sub, your optimal placement most likely would be outside of that recessed area. Even with big speakers, moving the bass out (behind the sofa/under a coffee table...) will help.
2 channel listening will suffer with imaging but that's a sacrifice you will have to make for theater and space.