8 gauge vs 10 gauge OF speaker cable

Either one is overkill for the length of the run. Are you running 1000 watt amps into an inefficient load and listening at 100db or more?

The right tool for the job always works best. You don't use a sledge hammer to drive home a finishing nail.

Consider 12 or even 14 gauge wire for short runs. More wire and more insulation sounds bad. NO tin plate. Pure copper is best. JMO

I thought for relatively short speaker wire runs (less than 12ft) you could use 14AWG or even 16AWG and have no issues with sound. For really long runs 50ft or more that was when you would get to 10AWG or 8AWG. I have to check around now out of curiosity. With the tin coating doesn't that help against oxidation?

Don't worry about the tin coating. Supra uses this method and they make very nice cables.

As for gauge, don't be afraid to even go to 24 or 26 gauge. An example is the Sakura Systems/47 Labs OTA cable.

I agree with all the above posts. In my experience with quite a few speaker cables, there is NO correlation between sound quality and fat wire gauge. Especially for a short run. In fact, thin cables like DNM Reson, Mappleshade, or AntiCable may very well prove be your cup of sonic tea.