As a long time slave in the mines of mid-fi, let me help OP with this. The Denon DRA-697CI is a very good mid-fi receiver. When it was current it sold for around $800.00 iirc, so it is not an entry level item, and has a fairly unusual feature set implied by the CI designation. Your Polk RTI-8Ts are solid, well made upper mid-fi speakers, with many owners singing their praises online. 12 gauge tough pitch stranded copper zipcord speaker wire is what you have. Nordost BH is not the first rung of the ladder up from there. If you have been given it to try, by all means do so, and form your own opinion! If you have to purchase it at retail, even in Nordost’s line there are more sensible options, like Super Flatline. But I would suggest getting Mogami or Canare wires from WBC as more suitable to your circumstances.
12 wire compared to Nordost Blue Heaven Speaker Cable?
This week I will get my new (to me) Denon 697ci to drive my Polk 8-T monitors. I have been using heavy gauge (12) speaker wire, but have a pair of Nordost Blue Heaven Speaker Cables coming. Will these cables sound any better than heavy speaker wire?