whats the very best sounding cables for realistic money

See the custom cable ensemble I am using on my system details page. 

The Analysis Plus Pro Power Oval power cord with Wattgate plug for less than a hundred bucks for one meter length is not chopped liver.

It feels like I've replied with the following maybe once or twice a year for the past decade.  This approach should fit your budget and is usually good for a laugh.  And you can always look this up and see for yourself...

Way, way back when I'd stumbled onto some references to speakers being displayed by Quad at a HiFi show near London and the real kicker to the whole thing was that the Quad guy had gone down the road to the local Home Depot equivalent, bought some orange outdoor extension cord (I think that article said it was Black & Decker wire), and Quad was displaying their speakers at that show with the extension cord being used as their speaker wire.  Apparently no one noticed for days...

DIY - Cerro 12 gauge stranded THHN. Twist conductors around each other one turn per foot. Do not terminate. Use bare copper into the amp and speaker connectors.  Get the wire from Home Depot or Lowe's.  Clean, detailed. 

IMO, beats a lot of expensive cables.

In a midrange investment....first....make sure power conditioning is on point.....AKA....Core2power. Outstanding results for minimum investment...Under 2k...total investment with enough power on tap to power an entire 15A circuit. If that is already there, the 'extension cord works in a pinch', I've done it. If you want the liquid sound of a state of the art cable, check out the best of the best IMHO....are, entry level Cardas, Audioquest, Morrow Audio, and Kimber cable. Not cheap, but very good. Morrow tends to be a little more aggressively priced. That kind of investment will get you well into an entire MA-4-5, Sp5 solution that will yield great results in many systems including my rig. I have heard Wywires , and Synergistic research products in some pretty nice affordable rigs too. The world is your oyster here, most important thing, do not use a cable to correct deficiencies in sound....they allow more detail and open soundstage as your investment becomes larger. Your budget should yield great results even with some of the 'affordable' offerings of some larger companies. Each cable choice will cause your system to change subtle character.....ie...more laid back, more lush midrange, and darker blacker back round. Make sure your power is as clean as you can get it to get the most out of your cable investment.