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.
advice on hiding cables
My speakers (B&W N804) are up against an 'outside' wall while my system is against aninterior wall. There happens to be a fireplace between the two. I had a tech come look and to run wire hidden in wall would be around $500 - which include sheetrock repair (not crazy about cutting two holes in outside wall due to firebreak in 12' wall). Does anyone have a solution for cable management that would be pleasing to the eye? My speaker cable is 4-14 ga bi-wire (65 strands/wire).