Shorter speaker runs or shorter IC Runs...Which is the better set up and why?

@gdnrbob

No, what materials being used has no negation that the only difference is loss in wattage and worse damping factor. You could say a better speaker cable has better EMI rejection, but then you are assuming you live in an environment with heavy EMI. 

Also, sorry to burst bubbles, silver is only better than copper in one way, it conducts electricity a bit better, meaning less wattage loss for the same distance, but 12awg copper conducts electricity much better than 14awg silver, so the premium of silver is not worth it.

Ok it definitely looks like the short run speaker cables win!  Now for a (albeit entry level) follow up question.  When connecting the PreAmp to the Amp VIA XLRs should I opt for equal lengths of XLRs or just the shortest?  As example:  The preamp will be approximately 4 feet from one amp and say 13 feet from the other so should I do 2 lengths of 14 feet or 1 of 4 and the other of 14 or both 14?  Both the amp and preamp are balanced...Thanks!
 

XLRs when used in a truly balanced system are generally zero signal loss and low distortion, and some do sound better than others, but generally not by much (many decades of live sound work taught me this). So if balanced cables come in pairs, simply get what fits and yer done, and don't worry if one cable is too long as placement of your stuff can change. Shorter good speaker wires can save some bucks.

Decades of live sound work doesn't presume you've heard a good cable.

The whole point of going balanced is to get off of the exotic cable merry go round.
Imagine a technology where a $100 cable can sound as good as a cable that's $1000/foot. That's the balanced line system. So in effect, if one has been doing decades of live sound, the cables have worked as well as the best out there for the simple reason that the balanced line system works that way.
One caveat: pro audio gear supports the balanced line standard. Most high end audio stuff does not. In order for the cable to not have a sonic signature of its own, the equipment must support the standard. In a nutshell, here it is:
1) pin 1 is ground, pin 2 is non-inverting, pin 3 is inverting2) the system is low impedance; the source must have  the ability to drive 1000-2000 ohms without worries3) the system ignores ground (pin 1); no signal currents are passed through the pin 1 connection (shield of the cable). This is where most high end audio stuff misses the mark.4) the impedance to ground from either pin 2 or pin 3 is the same.
5) the signal travels within a twisted pair usually within a shield.