speaker cable prices


I read plenty of articles on the demise of high end audio and have been an enthusiast for 40 years and worked at a high end retail chain for ten years back in the 90's. I still own several systems and buy and sell gear to keep tweaking my systems. Nonetheless I'm pretty shocked at the prices of cables in particular- I look for a decent pair of speaker cables to run from a Pass amp to a good pair of speakers and can hardly find a pair of 8 ft cables for less than $1000- most are commonly 2-3k for a pair of cables. 

Is it me or is this ludicrous? 

What are people buying for an average pair of cables ? Can a pair be had for $300?
128x128cowan217
Not mentioned lately,but I continue to recomend ( and go back to) Goertz alpha core speaker cables. For 8 ft, MI 1 < $200, MI 2 < $300.
Another vote for Goertz cables. Plus they understand wire directionality. 
If you're a "non believer", why not go to an auto parts store and pick up some heavy duty jumper cables? Cut off the connectors, strip them down and you're done! I have some in my trunk that must be 6-7 gauge.
I happen to believe in OCC "single crystal" copper -been using it for decades. Harmonic technology "Pro-9" pops up here regularly. The "non reference" cable is very reasonable.
I'm currently using Wireworld Eclipse 7.
Check out Shunyata "Venom" speaker cable. It's OCC and cryoed and very reasonably priced.
http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/shunyata-research-venom-interconnects-and-speaker-cables/?p...
Virtue Cables. Jason Terpstra assembles beautifully- crafted, modestly-priced, and lovely-sound wires. He is also great to deal with.
http://store.virtueaudio.com/default.asp

My affiliation is simply as a very happy customer.
heavy duty jumper cables aren't flexible and not practical to use for home audio.
mcmaster.com, digikey.com, newark.com, mouser.com, crutchfield, musiciansfriend, b&hphotovideo, zzounds, fullcompass -- all these vendors have premium audio wires $5 per foot tops and choice is HUGE for believers and non-believers alltogetheratonce.