Help with first cable upgrade.

Not sure of what you consider "budget friendly", but if you are looking to enter the cable arena, I would check out The Cable Company website and see if they still have any of the Audience AU24 cables at 50% off.  They are older versions of the AU24 that come direct from Audience and are listed as "show samples".  The cables are light and easy to use, but IMO have very good body and bass weight and are not bright at all.  Plus, Audience is a great company for service.  Also, at half price, you would probably take very little if any loss if you decided to sell. Audience also makes a less expensive line called Conductor, but I've never heard them.  I don't think they're very popular for whatever reason. 

I also found the Canare wire cables to be decent affordable quality and a bit warmer sounding than some.  

I never tried Canare, but I do have a pair of 10 gauge Belden from Blue Jeans. In some situations they work absolutely fine, even in comparison to some much more expensive cables. But they have sounded absolutely terrible with some other component combinations I’ve tried and the "better" cables sounded much much better. So I do think it’s a good idea to start with Belden or Canare and see if they meet your expectations. It’s important to have a baseline for comparison so you will know whether it’s worth buying something more expensive. But they are not the end of the cable rainbow. I wish they were.

Thanks everyone.  Will try the least expensive first and see how is goes.  I'll follow up with any noteworthy feedback.

The Audience AU24's are way out of my price range so I'm looking at the rest.  I also found a used pair of Audioquest Rubies for $80 online and might give those a shot.  Thanks again.