Right here, that's where. Subcoolman, I take it you trust your ears, and you strike me as someone not easily fooled. And you already know about Audiogon. You're set! One of the very best aspects about this site is probably the risk-free and convenient ability to try different cables in your own system, on your own time. I appreciate your wanting to 'know answers' to your questions, but in the final analysis, all that matters is getting some wires that sound good to you in your system and that you can afford.
Audiogon is ideal for this. Cables are always plentiful around here, and cable shipping is cheap. There's not much to break or go wrong, and you can swap them in and out of your system and A/B them without too much difficulty. Any cable you are interested in, you will quickly begin to see a 'going price' on it if you look regularly in the for-sale sections. Just stick to models that have been on the market for a little while, and are from recognized brands - in any reasonable auditioning time frame, you really cannot lose on buying wires this way. Just set aside a little 'cable fund' to experiment with and start getting some candidates in for auditioning. As you make you choices, turn around and sell the losers for what you bought them at - they might well work better in someone else's system.
Don't be hesitant to get your feet wet - it's the only way to get a feel for what you're dealing with, and you'll never be able to hear anything but a fraction of what's available anyway. Unless you're one of those audiophiles who fancies himself in constant pursuit of the mythical 'state-of-the-art', it shouldn't be too long before you've found a suite of wires that sound better than what you had, that you're happy to stay with for a good while (at least until you've completed that next round of component upgrading and get itchy again!), and you won't have had to spend a fortune coming by that knowledge.
