Big name company or smaller company?

Big name vs. small name is much less an issue with cables than with most other components, which may need to be serviced some day.I suggest you find the cables that you like best in your system and then worry about resale. Use the Cable Company (www.fatwyre.com) or various dealers to try at-home auditions of good candidates. Zen and Coincident could both be good choices for you, as could some of the "big" names you mentioned.

Don't let yourself be influenced by the cable companies marketing. Almost every single cable company outsources their production...they're not manufacturers...so resources aren't even an issue. Big companies also have more money to throw at reviewers in the form of free demos, trips, wining and dining, hookers, etc. :-) Most cables are way way overpriced (whether people want to admit that or not). I have Cardas cables (mostly Golden Cross...purchased used) and I think they're great, but I also think the Coincident is as good or better at 30% of the price. JPS cables are also very good, and many rave about HomeGrown audio's silver cables. I would definitely recommend checking all options. Don't let the price or the name fool you, and don't forget about the used market.

I assume by cables you mean interconnects, not speaker cables. If so, the two interconnects I'd recommend for best VALUE (price vs. performance) are the Kimber Silver Streak, and either the Silver Solution or Silver Lace by HomeGrownAudio. I own both, and think both are excellent buys. You can buy the HomeGrownAudio interconnects as kits, do the soldering yourself, and save some money if you are on a budget. If you decide to go with the Kimber Silver Streak and are in no hurry to make the purchase, watch for used ones on Audiogon, or check out "UsedCables" (www.usedcables.com).

Some companies are small and some what unknown however spend much time and funds with research (as mentioned by Elizabeth). Their products however can be excellent! One such company I use is Silver Audio. (silveraudio.com) I highly recommend you take a look/listen.

I have found that you can get great products at non-inflated prices with the smaller companies. In the past I have used Kimber Select and Cardas and really liked the products. They also cost me $$$$$. I recently baught a pair of ZuCable OxyFuels on auction. They are a small company but the cables sound better than anything I have heard so far at a fraction of the price. Bigger is not always better!

Small is OK (better value for $$), but make sure it is a reasonably WELL KNOWN small company. Otherwise you WILL suffer on resale! Personally, I'd rather buy big, well known names on the second hand market. Your loss on resale is far more contained in that case.

There is a person selling cables on eBay; Stu Wein (Screen Name: audioparts@aol.com) His brand is MAS (Music & Sound) His digital cable years ago came included with the original Wadia DAC and was recommended in Stereophile at the time. So were some of his interconnets. I tried some and the performance is very good and very cheap. His Silver Black cables goes for $50 a meter pair and was as good IMO as Name brand cables I have tried in the $150 to $200 range. His Silver Blue are go for about $25 pair and were as good IMO as stuff like Kimber PBJ. I just got a pair of his best cables $80, but have not given them a good listen yet. The build quality is very good. He also has two power cables ($50 and $75) probably worth over twice that.