Need some help with the planning of my basement theater (IB)

[Mazeroth]

I am in the process of designing our finished basement which will house my small theater. The bummer with the layout of the basement is that the steps are in the center which makes for two small rooms to the sides of it instead of the option of having a larger room. This is the only place I can really put the theater so I'm stuck with it. The room will only be 16x8.75 but I will make due. Now, here is where I need help:

1.) I would love to install an IB but the problem I'm facing is that the furnace is 3.75 feet behind where the wall is. I will be using a manifold to minimize the forces of the IB and to make the install more stealthy. I don't want to shake the crap out of my furnace and I don't want to hear it shaking. Is this going to be a problem or will the IB still be ok in this situation? I got 4 RS390HFs at a great price and will be using them for this application.

2.) Since I only have 106" of width to work with I'll probably stick with a smaller screen in the 80-92" range, which will be 70-80" wide, leaving me only 15-18" of space on each side of the screen. To make a nicer looking install I was thinking of going with in-wall speakers. One problem here is whether or not to drywall the wall on the furnace side (and maybe insulate) to cut down on furnace noise. If I did that I would have to make boxed in-wall speakers, which I don't mind, but I was thinking IB in-walls would probably be better. I also could double up on the drywall. The other problem with this is having the front speakers so close to the side walls which will kill the SQ. However, since the center is a big part in movie playback this may not be such a huge problem since it receives a lot of the information. Finally, for the in-walls, do I go with a piece of 3/4" MDF that's not flush with the wall or try an in-wall kit from PE?

3.) Now, what to do for the rears? Do I go with 7.1 or 5.1? I'm thinking 7.1 is overkill, especially in a room this small. If I go 5.1 do I put the rears (red in the pic) on the sides of the couch (which will be in the wall of the "hallway") or behind the couch?

So, with all that in mind, do you guys have any suggestions for what you would do in my shoes? I appreciate any input you may have!

I'll apologize in advance for this high-tech pic of my basement!

[Gir]

Here's a few ideas to ponder (as if it's not already confusing enough) in no particular order:

1) Try going with an acoustically transparent screen and make it much bigger with the speakers behind it. Nice and stealthy.

2) For hiding the rear speakers, there's been a few HT's I've seen that use half a column against the wall with a small section cutout wrapped over with acoustically transparent cloth, with the speaker placed inside. Stealthy and classy.

3) Perhaps boxing in the furnace with drywall would solve your problems?

4) If you're worried about noise carrying throughout the house, double drywall makes a huge difference (from what I hear). Caulking all cracks is a very good idea, and using a solid core door with weather stripping for the entrance helps a lot. Basically the same thing used for the front door.

5) ???

6) Profit! (sorry, couldn't resist)