Bang for Buck Bi-wiried cables...

Look on ebay for Valab. Bi-wire silver plated copper and made very well. Long break in period and excel the price point by a mile.. They easily replaced a few cables mentioned in this thread. I also have a pair of Morrow SP3's coming. Can't beat the trial period. I have used solid core and stranded cables and have found that the solid core seems to have more of a full midrange. At least on the ones I have tried. If you want super budget go with Anti-cables but I can tell you they don't compare to Valab.
Also, for your buddies system look at picking up a Tripp Lite isolation transformer down the road.

After having the Morrow Audio SP3's in my system for a couple of weeks I would say they are a great sounding speaker cable and not just for the price. They are very accurate IMHO.

Ok if it is price only go for the magnet wire. If your friends speakers are up against a back wall then just use the red candy apple color cable.