DIY CABLES Need Advice, Opinions, Supplier Info

I am interested in making my own interconnects and speaker cables and could use some help from those who have experience doing this and have compared them to some of the popular name brands. Given my skills with a soldering station, and the known fact that most high end cable companies do not actually make the cable they use in their designs, I would rather spend my money on those audio items I do not have the skills or experience to make. Here's a list of items I could use some help with:

1. Cables you have tried and where to get them. DH Labs is one that I have read very good things about. I have done a number of searches on this site and others such as Audio Asylum. At this time I am not interested in labor intensive projects such as CAT5 speaker cable, but rather high quality cables(both interconnect and speaker) ready for termination.
2. RCAs, XLRs, Spade Lugs. Recommendations on what you've used and where to get them at the best prices. Cardas are easy to find, but is it necessary to spend that much to get a good connector? Anyone tried Canare F-10 RCAs for example?
3. Silver solder. Where to get it. Also shrink-wrap and any other items I've not thought of.
4. Your listening experience and comparisons with other cables and the systems you've used them in.

Thank you for all your help. And thank you to Bob Crump, Hdm, and Dbui1 for your kind response to my previous query on locating the supplies for Bob Crump's power cable design.