I was told the exact opposite! My old dealer (Sound Images of Westport, MA...I moved out to AZ) was truly interested in High-end audio, and rather than just making a profit, educated each potential buyer. I was told that speaker cables would give you 70-80%, with the I/C's being the "frosting on the cake". I first changed my speaker wires from Nordost SPM's to Valhalla's, and the sonic improvement was mind-boggling!
I then changed my I/C's (CD to pre-amp & pre-amp to mono-blocks) from Quattrofils to Valhalla's, and the change was very noticeable, but no where near the degree of sonic improvement that resulted from my speaker wires. Perhaps this example is unfair, as the Quattrofils are a better cable than the SPM's, but are not available as speaker wires.
Which version of the Red Dawns do you have, the original or Rev. 2's? The Rev. 2's are pretty close in performance to the SPM's, while the originals are not. Either way, they are not even close to the Valhalla's. I don't know how long a run you need for your speaker cables, but take a deep breath, buy the Valhalla's, (they are now showing up with some regularity here at Agon). The micro-dynamics will vastly improve, and you will notice a more precise soundstage location, greater separation and un-muddling of vocal (especially female) harmonies, and chord decays that seem to go on to infinity!
I then changed my I/C's (CD to pre-amp & pre-amp to mono-blocks) from Quattrofils to Valhalla's, and the change was very noticeable, but no where near the degree of sonic improvement that resulted from my speaker wires. Perhaps this example is unfair, as the Quattrofils are a better cable than the SPM's, but are not available as speaker wires.
Which version of the Red Dawns do you have, the original or Rev. 2's? The Rev. 2's are pretty close in performance to the SPM's, while the originals are not. Either way, they are not even close to the Valhalla's. I don't know how long a run you need for your speaker cables, but take a deep breath, buy the Valhalla's, (they are now showing up with some regularity here at Agon). The micro-dynamics will vastly improve, and you will notice a more precise soundstage location, greater separation and un-muddling of vocal (especially female) harmonies, and chord decays that seem to go on to infinity!