Your opinion on cable spending

Generally, speaker cables are more expensive than interconnects, unless you have a system with very short speaker cables and very long interconnects.

Expect to spend more for the item which has the longer runs, which are typically the speaker cables.

I am affiliated with Starsound Technologies, manufacturer of Sonoran A/V Wire Designs.

Cabling is about synergy. This does not mean necessarily using all one brand. It means making connections which bring out the best in each component individually to get the most cohesive sonic presentation. Try out as many as your patience will allow. Many higher end audio dealers, along with the Cable Company (usedcable.com) have loaner programs. The Cable Company will also provide expert advice. Make sure you have a female pair of ears, they hear sounds different than men (sometimes they don't hear sounds at all). I have been through so many cables in search of the "right" sound, as many of us have. Here's my extra 2 cents; I find that smaller companies which have 1 or 2 levels of performance to be great values. They put all their energy into a design and then use the highest quality parts available. They're harder to find because little/no money goes into magazine marketing, thus prices stay reasonable. I will mention 2 companies I favor, not because they will be right ones for you, but
because they represent performance/dollar value: BEL and Dimarzio. It's possible you've never hear them or of them. There are others. I suggest you seek them out and compare them against the big boys (kimber, cardas, mit, transparent, etc). Happy hunting! Just my 4 cents.

Get as much as you can from the source. If you have to skimp do it down stream.

i agree with uppermifi....however to get the best out of your source,pre, and amps you do need deecent interonnects and speaker cable and now powercables.

there are some hidden gems in regards to interconnects and speaker cables (used) that have a very strong price to performance ratio

much to my dismay..most interconnects/ speaker cables dont get good till you hit the $600 (new retail) price point for interconnects and $1000 ( 8 foot pair- new retail) for speaker cables.

your most cost savings will be buying used....cable markup is very high and the cable depreciation is very quick. i have yet to hear a killer budget cable ( may someone please prove me wrong on this one )

so the used market is the way to go. however the drawback to used is finding out what works best in your system.

since you are obviously looking to upgrade the sound...what are you looking for ? more bass, resolution, imaging. warmth ..etc ?

that is the real key question- what you may have can improved only by changing one set of interconnects ( the one between the cd to pre is most cruical, then pre to amp, speaker cables, then power cords).

i dont know if you have upgraded your pc's but they do make a difference ( i heard a huge difference wih the very inexpensive wireworld aurora with my api powerwedge- made a believer out of me)- that is my new tweaking path.

also, can you utilize ( keep any exisiting speaker cable / interconnects ?

i have seen too many of my audiophile friends choose to "upgrade" only to downgrade from what they have.....( i admit i have this a couple of times myself)

here is a example of my cable budget that is in my current system ( alll used prices)...btw, i have 4 monoblocs and bi-wired alon speakers (speaker cable combo for the alons was very challenging - they are meant to wired with alon black orpeaus speaker cable)

interconnects:
discovery essence $325
xlo signiture $225
straight wire cresen $390

total $940 ( used.. would be $2250 new)

speaker cable
Mit plus s3 (top) $325
Van den hul revolution (bottom) $225

total $550 ( would be $1750 new)

power cords ( still auditioning)
will probley go chris van haus or wireworld @ $900 ( est)

that brings you up to a total of $2400
( i kinda have a unique situation with addional set of interconects and 2 additional power cords....i am going the least amount i can on the power cords)

hope this all helps !!

mike

Depends on your need. For best possible performance / matching, I would buget up to $500 each for pair of speaker cables, and $500 for each pair of interconnects.