As I mentioned in a different thread I have spent a good deal of my career looking at and measuring singals traveling on circuit boards and cables for disk and tape drive manufacturers where it really does make a difference. At audio frequencies the signal does not care what cable it is traveling on. The cheap cables that come with the equipment are every bit as good as "silver serpents". I do admit one thing though, the cheap cables look cheap and I do like the look of all the pretty pastel colored cables when I get done with an installation. Just a couple other items:

1. Interference is probably your biggest cause of distortion. Keep your patch cords short and stay away from power.

2. Upgrade to shielded wire if you're woried about noise.

3. Twisted wire really only matters if you are using a balanced system, otherwise you are lacking the common mode rejection necessary for noise reduction.

4. Video is a little more discriminating. The important thing here is to maintain impedance throughout the circuit, so make sure all crimps and connections are tight.

5. Sometimes it's just fun to have pretty cables. If that's your bag, knock yourself out.