The way I see it is this, you either believe interconnects and cables can make a difference in the quality of sound from your system or you don't. If you don't believe they make a difference than why not just go down to your local Home Depot, buy some wire, terminate them with some low cost connectors and your done. If you do think they can make a difference but don't like the high prices (I agree the prices are high) you could buy used on Audiogon or e-bay. Probably pay half price or less depending on your bargaining powers and your ability to be patient.

As far as I'm concerned, I thought that wires made a difference but a very small difference. That is until I tried a single pair of MIT Shotgun S1 phono cable on my turntable. It made a significant difference. It made such a positive difference in my system that I replaced all of my cables and interconnects with MIT Shotgun S1. It didn't make as big a difference as changing my phono cable but it made a decent difference. I am very happy with them. I have tried many other cables and found the differences between them to be small. They usually fit into the realm of "I think I can hear a difference but it may be in my head". This however wasn't the case in my system with the MIT cable. I'm not pushing MIT on you. Or any other cable for that matter. I'm just relaying my experience. I have no connection with MIT at all expect being a happy customer. My point is this. Decide which group you fit into and go from there.