advice on hiding cables

I've always wondered why cable manufacturers don't use neutral colored jackets instead of black or other bold colors.

If you are sure that the speakers will reside where you have them currently placed. I would consider mounting jacks in the wall or the floor if the basement is unfinished. You don't mention the distance. Can you ,if you definitely don't want to cut holes, run the perimeter of the room with both runs? If this is possible, buy a matching peice of trim and tie the cable to it and wedge it along the baseboard so it won't be so obvious.

Slipknot has the best answer I know of. For my "living room" system, I run the cables through the floor, through the basement, then back up. If you have that option, you can also "hide" your amp in a closet or in the basement and score some WAF points.

I did an installation kind of like what you are describing, but the construction of my house may have allowed for a less destructive installation. The house is wood frame, raised foundation. My equipment cabinet is against an outside wall. My speakers are on either side of a fireplace. I ran my speaker cabling into the outside wall, down through the sill plate, under the house in the crawl space, back up through the sill plate in the same wall, and then through the wall. Each time, only a small 3"X3" hole was required...small enough to be covered with a wall plate through which I ran the speaker cable without an additional connection at the wall. The wall plates were standard cable jack plates with the cable jack removed and the remaining hole enlarged with a Dremel tool.

I should mention that the same method was used on an inside wall for the other speaker. The installation was part of a larger project, and the whole thing was done by two outstanding local home theater installers for about $350. Well worth the money for the clean installation.

Other cables, like power cords, are hidden behind floor length drapes. A power conditioner and power supply for my VAC amp are hidden behind a chair. Fairly clean looking.

Sorry guys, I was not very clear on my room description. I have hardwood floors and house is built on a slab foundation, no basement, So you now can undestand my dilemna.