The speaker stands are functional. The wires that you see in the bedroom system are mainly antenna wires for the tuners that I really don't use. Put the stack together and then the college radio station that I used to listen to pretty much went away (no more music). Wire seen on the right hand side is a T made out of speaker wire, sort of just resting on top of the stack. I should probably get rid of the tuners but can't bring myself to go there yet.
Not a lot of wires in the living room system. Basically just a cable going from the portable CD player into the amp and then two small speaker wires to the speakers. However, the roommate has various wires hooked up and there is a bit of a rat"s nest in how he did that stuff. I do like the crates for speaker stands because they can also be used for a bit of storage. Works well.
Basement system used to be the main system. That stereo cabinet has seen better days but it still functions. Milk crates don't look the best but again are functional. I need to get down there and do some jamming one of these days. Got to break in the new Chinese Strat copy guitar that I bought brand new for all of $62. LOL. Was also going to hang a TV on the wall there and pipe the sound into the system but that project stalled and right now is not happening or even a priority. Oh well... Also, the basement is freezing cold at the moment.