speaker cable prices

Is it me or is this ludicrous?

It's not you.  The high price is justified however as cable marketers put some real innovative work into the design of these cables.
What's ludicrous is that there's no audible benefits; they do not "disappear" more than any other simple 12 awg cable made of pure copper and PE insulation.
The upgrade path proposed by exotic cable manufacturers is always more copper... entry-level is 16 awg or smaller, going larger as you move up the line. Double the copper...
LOW R,L,C is KING over everything else; that's where the real differences are; the key is to not screw it up with bad connectors... choose pure copper / silver terminations also.

Yes ludicrous is the only word to describe this.

https://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/speaker/index.htm

Canare 4S11

A 10 foot pair with high quality terminations about $ 100 plus shipping

Mogami W3104 

https://www.redco.com/Mogami-W3104.html

Above a bit more

Good Listening

Peter

Second Cullen. Excellent Speaker Cables for the money.

Few buck per foot is just price for speaker cables. $1...5
Everything in excess is just market balloons with snake oil no matter what story or reviews behind specific brand/model -- vanishable to just monetary value that is in excess. No need to know Electrical Engineering or electrical wire properties -- just $ is enough!

Pbn shown right choices that are never wrong, only you don't need termination on home audio speaker cables.