Best Cables for around $500

A story.
I recently got a new preamp,sounded great in my system with my $1200 Harmonic Tech speaker cables.
As everything was now just fine I decided to go through my closet to cull the herd of my various and sundry IC's and spreaker cables.
Came across an old pair of cheap(relatively)QED original
b1-wire SP's that I bought maybe 15 yrs ago on the basis
of a 5 star rating in Brit audio mags(before I figured out everything made in UK gets that} which were so bright on the Maggies I had then as to be painful.
On a whim I inserted them in my system before trashing and about dropped my dentures as my Silverline Preludes took a massive jump in soundstage and clarity.
Not quite as rich as the Harmonic Tech but overall a definite improvement,

Moral of story,you never know and nobody can predict,the variables involved in any system and room are so great that only trial and error suffice.

Let me suggest a slightly different approach. Rather than looking for a $500 cable, get a pair of Mogami Gold Studio XLR (less than $100 for a 6 foot pair) and than borrow some $500 cables and compare them. Make sure you invite some friends over to listen with you and ask them to switch cable such that you won't be subject to visual bias. You may be surprised to find that you can save $400 towards other upgrades.

I know that some of these threads can end up "try my cable, it is the best" however, this thread has already been very helpful so far. I have been checking out the two, new to me, cables from Crimson MusicLink and Gabriel Gold Revelations. The Crimson MusicLink is $537.00 in 1 meter XLR and I have emailed the company for prices on the newer Gabriel cables.

I have now tried two pretty good, but inexpensive cables. One is the Morrow MA 1.1 XLR retailing for $239 but often on sale for much less. The other is the Silver Serpent II Balanced XLR for $99.00. Both of these are pretty good but I feel that both are holding me back from hearing all the music. The Morrow's were initially tipped up in the treble and I had to pull them but later put them back in the system and used the Isotek CD conditioner. Now, I feel that they are, if anything, tipped down in the treble almost like a blanket has been put over the speakers.

I believe I can pick up a pair of AudioQuest Colorado 72v 1 meter XLR cables for about 1/2 retail (normally $900). Anyone have thoughts on this. I understand that the AudioQuest cables were a big discussion on another site but couldn't find the thread.

Thanks to all who have contributed so far!

I can sell you the best there is. What color do you like?

Give Morrow Audio a try. I've had great success with the ones I own and use on several systems.

:) listening,

Ed