Bart, no "skimping" was involved in the pieces of connecting wire you bought in the past and the new $300-$400 budget you mention shouldn't be considered "peace of mind", but instead being willing to be played for a sucker. Speaker wires simply provide a low resistance pathway for the electromagnetic wave which carries the power down the outside of the wire into the speaker. Regular electrical wire does this very simple job as well as it can be done. Contrary claims abound, but collapse when put to the test(i.e., controlled blind listening tests).
A source for no-nonsense information on speaker wiring by a veteran audio professional can be studied
here .
Get electrical wire from a local source such as Home Depot or Lowes or a reasonably priced online source such as MonoPrice.
