I think I've settled on the Sonos. It's going to be the best thing for the user in this case (that is, it's the easiest to use).

I have two questions:

- does anyone have a recommendation for in-ceiling speakers that I can get without going through a specialty supplier? I think the speakers that have been mentioned in this thread so far look fantastic, but it seems they're kind of difficult to obtain. I'm looking more for something I can get through Amazon that's going to have a decent range and play music well. Oh, and I'm hoping for something omni-directional. Everything I've seen seems to have directional tweeters...

- iTunes: this is something that's been dogging me. Is it necessary that to play your iTunes collection, you must have iTunes open on a computer in your home? For example, I can't just play the music from any given iPhone on the Sonos? I see that Sonos suggests plugging an Airport Express into the line in on a player and using Airplay, but is this really the only solution?