Best $200 speaker cables for overall performance?

I would also put Pear Comice cables on your short list.

I just noticed and can't believe I responded to a 2 year old post!! Just wondering, Do posts ever get dropped??

OK, I went with a set of Morrow Audio SP2 Reference Speaker Cable. They say it needs 200 hours to fully break in; I'm not sure about this whole break in thing with cables.

The first thing that I noticed about these cables is how light they are. I mean they don't seem to weigh anything. I don't see how they can carry enough current for big bass sound.

So, what I did was to run the Morrow cables to the high frequency posts of the speakers, and then I ran a set of Goertz Alpha Core MI-2 to the low frequency posts. This way, I know I am getting enough juice to the low frequency posts. I guess this is what they call a shotgun bi-wire hookup. Also, I plan to later switch the cables at the speaker posts, and see if I prefer the Morrow or the Goertz sound on the high frequencies.

At this point, I have maybe 20 hours on the Morrow cables. Again the current setup is replacing my 10 year old bi-wire set of Tara Labs RSC Prime cables.

So far, it does seem the mids and highs are very clear with the Morrows on the high frequency posts. I listened a bit to a SACD and am pretty impressed. I will have to do a bunch more listening and continue to break in the cables for a while before making any firmer conclusions.

Nordost flat 2 or 4 are great cables in this range...2 comes in bulk that your local dealer can terminate or you could do it yourself...i have listened/auditioned many cables in this range...and most everything sounds the same..ie...they dont improve the sound...

Yep, I must now have maybe a couple hundred hours on the Morrows, and there is definitely a greater sense of palpability of instruments such as drums and guitar than with the Tara Labs. The high frequencies seem to come through better, but not with any apparent increase in stridency or harshness. Strings and orchestra sound very good, and I don't seem to notice any of this "silver glare" that people talk about.

I think I really like this setup. I do still want to reverse the cables, that is, run the Goertz MI2 to the HF terminals of the speakers, with the Morrows then going to the LF terminals. Then, I will mainly compare the highs and mids.