$250 used speaker cables for warm system

I second the cat 5 idea.
look here: http://www.tnt-audio.com/clinica/triple_t_e.html

I've made these and they are a pain in the ass, but kind of fun hobby for a weekend.

Get the best cat-5 you can get (Belden 1585A CAT 5 Teflon coated or similar), it doesn't cost that much more compared to the investment of labor. Just buy a huge box of it from an online computer vendor. (I think for a 10' pair run you actually need 150ft of raw cable!)

The ones I made were fast and open with good detail and ok slam, great deal for the price.

CAT-5 is not designed for optimum audio listening. Yes, the shielding is good but it's only 18 gauge for the + and 22 gauge for the original. It may sound clean but without any bass and I would be scared to run 200 watts into it for a few hours.
I have whole house audio with CAT-5+ runs of up to several hundred feet. I chose to run 16 gauge speaker wire for all of the in-wall/ceiling speakers.
You don't have to spend a lot. You may even find some older tara, apature or vecteur wire for 10 to 20% of what it cost new.
Feel free to email me on suggestions,
Emery

Shielding on a speaker cable is not typically a desirable attribute. As such, what makes you want that specific feature ? Using a low inductance speaker cable is typically the preferred method of minimizing the susceptability of the system to picking up RFI. One can obtain good results like this without having to resort to an actual shield.

Having said that, you might want to look for some Kimber 4TC or 8TC. Both tend to sound pretty open without having a hard high end. The Analysis Plus Oval 9's may also work for you, but i think that these cables are HIGHLY system and personal preference dependent. I'm sure that there are plenty of other cables out there that others may have greater experience with.

If attempting to build CAT 5 cables, be aware that there are different grades of CAT 5 and multiple design geometries out there. Some can be highly capacitive, to the point of requiring Zobel networks so as to minimize the potential for damage to an amp from high frequency oscillation.

Other than that, you might want to try working with speaker placement a bit more if you haven't already done so. Sean
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In response to the CAT-5 suggestions: At one time I considered doing this, but lately it seems to have fallen out of favor with the "in crowd" :) Considering the amount of work it takes to make a set, at least the Chris VH recipe, I'm shying away from doing it.

Sean: I've heard similar things about the Anaylsis Plus...you either love em or hate em. The reason I mentioned the shielding is due to all the A/V clutter between my amp and speaks. Do the Kimber flavors you mention fall into the low inductance catagory?

Does anyone have experience with Jon Risch's Belden 89259 DIY? Will this wire meet my needs?

Thanks to all for your replies so far.

Snipes,

If you decide not to go DIY consider Nordost. Their cables seem to work well in a wide range of systems. They are fast, transparent and will not exaggerate warmth in any system. (OTOH, I've heard some Audioquest models called "dark" or "warm", so be careful with them.)

Used Nordost Blue Heaven in a 3m length (118") would sell at slightly above your price point. Nordost Solar Wind, the next model down, should sell for rather less.

Shielding around speaker cable is generally a terrible idea, as Sean said. Any conductive material near an electrical signal will interact with (and so degrade) the signal. Nordost cables have about the lowest inductance and capacitance around, so shielding is rarely necessary. We've never picked up any noise with our Nordost cables and interconnects.

Hope this helps, enjoy the music whatever you do!