Brian, welcome. It's a bit surprising that the speakers which stick out about 7" would look "huge", but nevertheless it's certainly true that the Axiom W series, besides giving you significantly better sound, would protrude less. The suggestion would be to consider three W22s positioned vertically across the front, but if the 2x4s under the screen that you mention would prevent the in-wall mounting(isn't there enough space between the 2x4s?)some other center would have to be used, but then it would stick out more, which is what you don't want.
