Is buildiing a HT around the speakers a good start

For $20K you should have no problem getting a respectable dealer to come in and set your sytem up for the best effect possible.
I think HT is very over rated BTW and I would focus more on getting your 2 main speakers and front amplification to be the best possible and build around that.
For a CC I would definately try the Magnepan CC if it will blend correstly with the Thiels.Magnepan is known for its clarity for dialog.

Good luck!

Thank you all for your advice. Incidentally, when I said my habits are 80% movies, I meant that for every hour of movie watching, I listen to about 10-15 minutes of music. That does not mean I care about movies more. I would listen to more music; it is just a time constraint issue. That is why I prefer this site to all others. For my initial set up I would like to concentrate on the audio for more. My plan is to get a video scaler in a year or so, right after I integrate AMX for controlling the system. I am already spending in the area of $20,000 as it is.

Cytocycle:
All Thiel speakers need 200 watts? I thought the wattage depends on the sensitivity, impedance and room size. These speakers have a sensitivity of 89db and impedance of 4 ohms and my room size is less than 2000 cubic feet. Based on Robert Harley’s book (“Home Theater For Everyone”) 125w should be more than enough. I understand more power never hearts. But I really want to keep the cost below $20,000. The PowerPoints cost $1300 a pop and after the projector and screen that leaves about 7-8K for the processor and amp. Do you have a recommendation for that price range?

We're all over the place here, so I might as well chime in....
Since the family room falls within my wife's perview, I had to be careful. Yet I convinced her to accept a beautiful pair of rosewood Spendor 3/1p on great-looking Plateau V23 steel stands, using a GREAT Spendor black SC3 center. Hiding the NAD T751 on a side-cabinet was the easy part.
The hardest part was the surrounds (of course). So may of them are really ugly, or stick out too far, and ESPECIALLY are NOT voiced for boundary support! I finally pleased both of us with the semi-cyllindrical beautifully-voiced (on the wall) Boston VR-MX in Cherry. They can be configured either bi or di, too. Makes a phenomenal fake 5.1 from 2ch with FM radio from across the room BEHIND them at the computer station too. I used fine cheap Canare star-quads for cabling, and of course my own $39 PC Kits on the T751 and the new Panasonic 36 Tau. LOTS of HT and background FM for around $4k.... Still using a cheap Panasonic DVD which sucks on Redbook...but that's what my ref system in the other room is for, eh? Have fun...and be SURE to demo rear speakers ON A WALL! Shame on JM Labs and Paradigm for screwing up their otherwise nice surrounds by forgetting to compensdate for boundary support! Sorry to bend the thread.

Also, since your preference is 80% movies, check out
the Lexicon MC12b surround processor. The new version uses the 32 bit Sharc chips.

If I could add to Jeff's thoughts -- two front speakers
plus a Center channel and sub-woof will provide you
with 90% of the sound you need for home theatre.
If you listen to music in two channel and movies in
surround and you have a wife to consider -- you might
be able to add rear surrounds by buying some of those tiny little speakers you can hide -- or consider sinking
the rear surrounds into your ceiling or walls. It ain't
ideal, but it might be a workable compromise. For
your sub-woof, check out some of those little Sunfire
jobs. They're small, but effective.

Cytocycle's response is good. I am just going to throw something at you that you won't like. Stick with two very good speakers towards the front. Two channel has great uses and you might avoid the problems with the wife. Our compromise with our library addition was jsut two speakers and and amazing sound system. audio aero, McIntosh, etc.

If you can't do full range speakers (DVD soundtracks suck anyway compared to the electronics you want to put on them), compensate with a bigger screen (motorized and tensioned), better projector, Two subs(Front and back depending on the processor -Meridian would give you the ultimate flexibility but you need an outstanding dealer to setup that correctly) instead of one. Put Bass shakers in the couch of some kind...

Remember those are Thiels so make sure you get 200watts a channel and some decent speaker cable.

Remember the center channel is the most important speaker with about 80% of the information and it needs to match the left and right for good panning effect. Positioning the Speakers to hit the sweet spots will be critical, make sure your dealer can! Don't do any other ceiling mount speaker without an enclosure.. IT WILL SUCK or the Attic will suck the life out of your system!

www.avsforum.com for all your other questions

I'm not very partial to any of your choices for processors because I find soundtrack to be harsh already... depending on your tastes... EAD (Auto Setup Rocks!) or Meridian (Serious Dealer Setup).. Not looking for a flame war, just my opinion