long interconnects - earthly price?

No offense taken, Albert. I should also have commented in my post that it might make sense for Jj2468 to get balanced IC's. While a 16-foot run is not terribly long, balanced IC's offer the potential advantage of lower noise, particularly if they are used in a system with high levels of RFI or EMI.

Your biggest concerns with a long cable run are:
- Signal loss
- EMI/RFI contamination
- a lot of metal (and its sonic signature) between point A to point B

You can get a pair of 5m Cyberlight cables that are immune to all of the above for around $1799. I have a set you can demo if you are serious.

More info

On long lengths, do not go cheap. I have a 12 meter run of the Pure Note Paragon E silver cable. I hear no signal degradation. I paid around $1500.

Long (35-foot) Transparent Ultra interconnects worked very well for me in my system for many years. While the Transparent cables are generally very pricey in the typical 1-meter lengths, the upcharge for longer lengths is very reasonable on a per-foot basis, resulting in long runs that are comparatively very reasonably priced. If you buy used, you will probably be able to find a pair of Transparent Reference interconnects within your $2,000 price cap.

Definitely go for microphone cable. Balanced is better for 16 feet but not essential.

The professional recording standard is Mogami 2534, though many studios use less expensive Belden and Canare. Even so, the Mogami is less than a buck a foot retail: the major cost will be quality connectors.

Everyone's ears and room and associated components differ. Having said that, I've compared Mogami 2534 and Canare StarQuad against quite a few high-end cables ($300 to $800 Cardas, AudioQuest, Tara Labs) and consistently haven't found a difference worth the price differential. Of course, YMMV.

Associated equipment: Sony DVP-S7700 as transport with Benchmark DAC1; Technics SP-10MKIIP turntable with Stax UA-9 tonearm and Ortofon Super OM40 cartridge; modified Sony ST-S555ES tuner; Meitner PA6+ preamp; Meitner MTR101+ power amps; Tannoy System 15 DMT II speakers; analogue ICs all Mogami 2534 with Cardas or Neutrik ProFi RCAs; digital IC i2 Digital X60; Museatex Krypton 1 metre speaker cable; DIY AC cables from 10 to 14 AWG shielded Belden.