Help me avoid sonos, please

I would not rule out Sonos. I helped my neighbor hook up speakers in his living room, back deck and kitchen with Sonos and Spotify on his smartphone as a source. He could not be happier. You always have your main audio system, plus Sonos is in that ballpark price range.

Take a look at audiopro.

I have the little battery powered one for traveling and it sounds great.

They are a Swedish company, not very well know here, but most of their products are very well reviewed online. 

Maybe a few of these?
https://us.audiopro.com/product/a10/#dark-grey

Heres their whole suite:
https://us.audiopro.com/multiroom/

Another Option would be a couple pairs of these AudioEngine speakers and pop a Chromecast Audio dongle on the back.  They have USB power built-in.

I gave this exact set-up as a gift to friend - they sound great.  Stereophile recommended product as well.

https://audioengineusa.com/shop/poweredspeakers/a5-plus-classic-speakers/

This would be cool because you could control them with Voice Control.  They even come with a remote!

The audioengine speaker line up looks good as suggested by leemaze!! I have never actually heard them but they seem to be a great option/choice. I have a Bluesound Node2 streamer which additionally connects to my NAS and I really like it, but never tried their speakers.

Thanks for the suggestions.  I’m debating the built in ceiling speakers now. I was close to installing and wiring to my Denon home theater, but I fear the sound will be terrible and I’m better off with a stand-alone BT speaker on the shelf.