Does speaker cable matter? What speaker cable should I get?

Yes, absolutely. This seems to be the hottest issue among stereo lovers. It reminds me of one of my favorite ads that I saw over the years. It was a full page ad with a picure of a metal coat hanger. All the ad said was, "Would you use this to connect your speakers?" It brings up a good point.

Naysayers claim many things:

1. as long as speaker wire is 16 gauge it's good enough, and that benefits can not be heard above 12 gauge.
2. the internal wire inside speakers is crap.
3. but any link in the chain can only hurt the signal. none can make it better

Counterpoints:

1. "blue and red make purple" category
   1. go into any stereo store and ask to hear the difference between 16 gauge wire and something else, on any system. A difference will be heard. Now begin your journey to figure out which brands are good and which are snake oil.
   2. example: comparing MIT to nordost, or either of those to any 12-16 awg wire
   3. see examples in At what point does a stereo become "good" quality?
2. this one is easy
   1. inside a speaker the signal doesn't have to travel 10 feet from one point to another
   2. between the point of entry (binding posts) and the point of exit (speaker cones) the manufacturer has complete control over everything including the wire. Therefore the properties of that wire are not just known, but in fact measured.
3. so find a link that hurts the least. i.e. get some good cable.