Dalethorn : when you noticed some accentuation of the upper frequencies upon trying different cables, they were probably silver plated with silver lining... A little more brightness, and more clarity. Arcam A-18 and Arcam CD-17 work well with silver interconnect, Paradigm speakers work well with silver lining speaker cables... but one should never use silver when, for example, wiring Yamaha AS-500... and worse, using all silver wires when wiring it with Monitor Audio speakers... which are already a nod on the bright side. Or I should rather say that their mid and high frequencies are naturally crisp and clear.
Recordspot : I noticed in many forums that your opinions on wiring were to use decent, basic wires... I wanted to ask, when you decided to "downgrade" your speaker cables, did you also downgrade your interconnect... And if so, I'd be interested to know what you tried and what you thought... and what you finally kept! See, I was about to buy Audioquest Type-4, but I'm not so sure anymore... and I'd like your feedback on interconnects too.
Audipheonix : if you find your sound to be too much on the bright side, that may be because of your silver wires... if not, then allelhuia! But I noticed a clear improvement in sound when dropping the silver cables and using copper with AS-500! As for gauge, a 12 or 15 should suffice to get good quality. I'd suggest at least 400 strands. It won't cost much...