Isiberian, I admire people that DIY, I had previously built a Dynaco FM5 tuner and Dynaco power Amp. You get a great feeling of accomplishment and save. I look forward to seeing yor finished speakers.
Congratulations on getting married she sounds like a jewel
Concerning the open rack, if you get some wire ties and channel and hide your cables behind the actual rack you can basically hide the wires very easily so they don't show from the front.
Later,
MidCow2
P.S. -My wife is wonderful and great but she also is a collector of all sorts of nick-nacks. I have to really, really straight-up and temprarily move her knick-nacks to take pictures of my system
P.S.S- Whoever mentioned Frat house -- wow does that recall old memories. LOL when I was in college I never had any HT ...no time or money