Speaker Cables? why all the hype for expensive speaker wire?

Different sounding isn't always the same as better sounding, or more detailed, or... etc. Expectation bias expecting differences doesn't guarantee superiority, it just means not the same as what it's replacing.

Can’t beat lamp cord. 

Don't waste money. Get decent quality cables and play your tunes. Blue Jeans Cable is economical and very good quality for us mere mortals.

I like my audioquest type 4's...they were not expensive and sound great to me. I use two pairs as I bi-wire. They have been a favorite for years at stereophile. If I had my way, I'd buy two pairs of auditorium 23's....however, that would set me back 3k. 

Lptocd - yes, active speakers is one way to go. Not always, though. I did an experiment the other day. The 'master' speaker of my Elac AM 50 no longer drives the 'slave' speaker.  I wondered if the slave was broken, and connected it to my main amp, Atmasphere MA-1. It worked OK. And not only did it work OK, but it sounded *amazingly* much better than I have ever heard it driven by the amp in the master speaker. Of course the MA-1 amp is in another league. Even so, I was surprised. And this was even with a short lamp cord, to the speaker!

Moral; if you go for active speakers, the quality of the amplification (not just the speakers themselves) means a lot. Check the passive speaker driven by a good amp - then you will know if the internal amp is good enough to match the best the speakers can do.