home theatre speaker cable choices - gauge too

[c00z]

I am currently running old speaker wire that I purchased from home depot 5 years ago and its needs replacing. I have looked around and it seems that there are many different opinions ranging from expensive cable makes a difference to no difference at all. Thus, since my budget is somewhat limited I would like to keep it cheapish. Below are my cabling choices. My first question is would 10 gauge be overkill since I am running them about 20 feet each to Paradigm monitor 9s with banana clips. Secondly, what cable would you recommend?

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=100-155
simple 12 gauge wire, good price.

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=100-156
simple 10 gauge wire, again reasonable price

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=100-947
more expensive 12 gauge wire that has been had tin added to the copper, supposed to improve it.

However, if you feel that I have overlooked any important sources I welcome all suggestions.

Thanks

[c00z]

Oh I forgot one,

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshowdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=100-660
monster cable, I know it is prices more and not worth exactly what its price is. However, I have heard that the winding of the cable is tighter and thus better. Thoughts on the four cables suggested?

[Mr Peabody]

If you are buying raw copper wiring look for "oxygen free copper", I don't think 14 to 10 gauge would be overkill.

Monster would be a step up from just straight wiring. There are winding and insulateing techniques that make a difference in performance. Some times if you look you can find cables for around the same price in a better brand like Audioquest or Transparent.

Not knocking anyone's gear but the better your gear is the more likely it will be able to reflect any improvement in detail or performance of a cable. If you have your average HT receiver Monster would be just fine.

[kexodusc]

10 gauge seems to be very much overkill to me...16 gauge could handle the distances you're talking about, with minimal detriment in signal strength, and no sound quality loss. 14 or 12 gauge are probably better though...ebay is a great place to find large quantities for cheap.

I'm one of those who after years of buying higher priced cables, has gone back to your basic generic quality stuff. I don't hear a difference, and I don't have entry level gear. For me, it's just a question of what provides the most benefit for my money, and cables aren't it, whether they make a difference or not (which I believe is possible, for the record).

[Pat D]

10 gauge seems to be very much overkill to me...16 gauge could handle the distances you're talking about, with minimal detriment in signal strength, and no sound quality loss. 14 or 12 gauge are probably better though...ebay is a great place to find large quantities for cheap.

I'm one of those who after years of buying higher priced cables, has gone back to your basic generic quality stuff. I don't hear a difference, and I don't have entry level gear. For me, it's just a question of what provides the most benefit for my money, and cables aren't it, whether they make a difference or not (which I believe is possible, for the record).
I've never tried 14 gauge wire, but 12 gauge is already a pain to work with! I shudder just thinking of working with 10 gauge . . . 14 gauge is probably not difficult to use and maybe someday I'll try some. Currently, my speaker cables only need to be about 10 feet long so I use 16 guage, which is relatively easy to work with and fits through the binding posts very easily. The minimum impedance of my speakers is somewhat below 4 ohms and is well within the limits of Roger Russell's table.

http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm