Sometimes it isn't physically or economically feasible to conceal the sound system. The Ohio Theater in Cleveland has been in continuous operation as part of a vibrant four theater complex in the heart of the city. Management had known for a long time their audio system needed help, and managed to budget about half of what was needed. First priority went to a very good main reinforcement system, and to cleaning up the power distribution system and its grounding.
In addition to the loudspeaker clusters, there's a row of loudspeakers under the balcony to cover seating which can't see the clusters. While we planned for loudspeakers to provide a little extra level at the top of the balcony, they fell out of the budget and the system is working fine without them. We also had to omit the row of loudspeakers we planned for the front face of the stage to cover the front rows of seating. Leftovers from the original system have been pressed into use to cover these front seats.
There simply wasn't any money left over to conceal the loudspeaker system, so there it sits, visible for all to see. But then, so are all the lighting fixtures. And, of course, we had to pump a lot of bright lighting into the theater to photograph the clusters -- under typical theatrical lighting conditions, they aren't at all prominent.