In my opinion, a high quality copper cable of adaquate gauge for the distance with mechanically sound (no pun intended) terminations is important. I personally have heard differences between bi-wiring and regular. Bi-wiring sounded different but not better. I do not think you can go wrong w/ Blue Jeans 10 gauge twisted pairs. I use these for my center and surrounds. I use Signal's ultra twisted pair for my mains. Nothing bi-wired. I went with the Signal because they were 1: reasonably priced 2: looked good 3: made very well. I think I spent about $150 for all. I could have spent 1/2 that if I used the Blue Jeans for everything, but I "feel" better with a higher-end pair on the mains. I think the Monster cables are loaded with very high octane advertising gas. Not saying they are bad, just over priced for what you get. I have never heard anyone say that you need to tithe to the cable makers. Salesmen usually work on commission and wire "add-ons" usually have 100-200% mark ups and pay a very hefty commission. It's not unusual for a salesman to make more on the cable part of the sale than the actual hardware.