short cable length: does cable "quality" matter?

Given that most high-end speakers can be such a 'tricky' load to drive, I'd say quality does matter. That does not mean that you have to spend the equivalent of a used car to get it. Years ago, I had the experience of speaker wire that could literally 'tune' the sound of your loudspeakers by finding the best length. Granted, it was heavy-gauge, neoprene-jacketed stuff, and wasn't very good overall, but it did teach me about the effect speaker cable can have on sound. Maybe you could split the difference, and buy some moderately-priced wire in the exact length you need? Might just give you terrific sound.

In my own system I've found that 1.5 meters of really good cable sounded much, much better than 18" of budget speaker cables. YMMV

And just to complicate things further, some say that, even using the exact same (high end) cable, 2.5m sounds better than 1.5m. I've never been able to get anyone to tell me why this is (allegedly) so, but it's fun to stir the pot, isn't it??

Any 12 or 10ga cable will serve you well. You can even make your own. In a DBT, I defy anyone to tell the difference, even against >$i0,000 boutique cables. For a change, you`ll laugh all the way to the bank.