Hi John,
Yes, tricky to incorporate an aesthically pleasing control panel, but my cables are not too pretty either.
Despite streaming avaiable in both systems, other than internet radio I am a bit of a luddite and still prefer silver discs as my music source. However, if Apple finally pull the rabbit out of the hat with HiRes itunes/DR beats streaming service I can envisage a wire-free, box free HiFi future. I guess a "premium" version of iTunes Match with an HD version of your ripped CD collection available in iCloud would be too much to wish for. A Xeo hub connected to iMac/ATV with Remote app for controll.