Two scenarios I'm weighing out and I'm not sure there's an advantage between them so I thought I'd ask.
Would it be better to have the amp closer to the speakers its powering connected to the receiver with longer RCA cables or just run 12 gauge wires from the amp to the speakers?
The RCA cables I'm looking at are actually cheaper than the speaker cable I'm considering. Both from Monoprice.
I guess the third alternative would be to bring my components back up the the front of the room but I'm trying to avoid that now that they are behind the MLP.

In theory the lower level signal from the pre-amp is more susceptible to loss and noise, and then that noise will be amplified. The high power signal going to the speakers is quite robust, as long as you use a sufficient gauge of properly designed wire. So it would make sense to keep the interconnect cables as short as possible and go with longer speaker wire.

In practice, as long as you're not talking about 100s of feet it doesn't matter either way. The amount of wire involved just isn't enough to cause any trouble with well designed products.

Good to know.
Thanks