The question about the sock was purely based on curiosity and having looked at the videos, they are clearly not designed for removal unless a repair is needed.
Regarding the wires, I know there are a lot of great cables out there and I don't mean to rekindle a well exhausted debate around their benefits so with that been said, I went ahead and fished a second pair of 12 awg wires, just like the ones I already had from my amp to the speakers. Again these wires are nothing special and I've been using them with four different speakers and they've served me well. I must have to say adding the second pair did indeed make a difference. The most noticeable affect is a slightly better bass. Definitely noticeable. I'm guessing adding the second pair halved the load that the amp now sees from the speakers by technically halving the length of cables. All in all, it was worth the effort. Thank you all for guidance. These speakers do indeed sound very musical.