Speaker Wires and AV Cables

As far as speaker wire goes, a 12 gauge speaker wire will sound a heck of a lot better than 18 gauge wire. However, $5.00 brand 12 gauge wire will probably sound pretty much the same as $50.00 brand 12 gauge wire.

With AV cables, quality definitely matters. Most of the free cables that come with equipment are not very good. They will physically carry a signal, but will also carry interference, noise and other things you don't want. Do yourself a favor and buy yourself good quality, but reasonably priced, shielded cables.