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
In fact there are more and better high quality, well terminated and customer focused cable companies in Audio today than EVER before....
just look at the ten brands you have been given.... wow
and there is some good sounding wire in there...
plus most of the really high end firms offer a budget line or three... I also happen to like Audioquest type 4
i prefer spades for a gastight Connection but that is probably nitpicking....

A plug for BlueJeans a Seattle company
i needed a set of 25’ RCA built on Belden  wire for a film soundtrack recording project - 24 hours later at my door via USPS $110

no affiliation other than happy customer

Clear Day pure silver speaker cables in an 8’ run are priced (including shipping) at:

- $135/pr for Single (for high efficiency speakers)

- $270/pr for Shotgun (medium efficiency)

- $450/pr for Double Shotgun (low efficiency)