" I am looking to stay at $2,000 - $3,000 new or used. I've had recommendations from various dealers pushing mainly Transparent Audio cables or Nordsot cables, and have no idea who to believe or where to start. I am an audiophile newbie and building my system from scratch. Thanks for your help!"
People usually get mad at me because I don't always share the same opinion that they do. I'm sure this won't be an expectation, but the truth of the matter is, you're in no position to buy cables that expensive. Given some of your descriptions, it looks like you've been reading a lot of reviews. And there's 2 things that reviewers are really bad at. The first is they do a poor job of putting differences in perspective in relation to other components.
" I've read some reviews online and it seems very difficult to purchase cables without auditioning, but this is my situation. I really want to bring out the best of the Olympica III's, the soundstage, midrange warmth, instrument/vocal placement, and overall seductiveness of the speakers."
The only thing I can tell you for sure is that its not going to happen. What you're talking about are major component differences and qualities. Amp, preamp, speakers etc. Cables may effect those areas, but nowhere near the level that components do. When you read reviews, the descriptions they use make it sound like a pair of cables will have the same impact on your sound as a pair of speakers. The differences with cables are usually much less.
The second, and more important thing that reviews lack are difficulty levels. If you're new to audio, its not easy to pick through a bunch of cables looking for differences. The differences are there, but there's no guarantee that you're going to find them. It takes a lot of listening and experience to do this. The last thing you want to do is rush in and spend a lot of money.
So my recommendation would be to keep your 3k in your pocket, and spend about $100-200 on speaker cables. At least for now.
