Do speaker wires matter

Agree, mine are warm and a bit laid back. If you like bright forward speakers...there is no shortage of options.

Issues not discussed yet -- at what volume do you listen and how big is the room? 

The power needed by a speaker is logarithmic, not linear. At the sensitivity noted in earlier posts, 1 watt of amp power should give you 83 dB of volume at one meter from the speaker. Double that to 2 watts for 86 dB, double again to 4 watts for 89 dB, 8 watts for 92 dB and so on. That's for an average volume level, so you still need some extra power for dynamic peaks.   The sound level drops as you get further away from the speaker, but the room can add back some reinforcement.  Larger rooms need more power to achieve the same volume.  

So, back to the first question -- how loud do you listen? For me, 85 dB average at my sitting position is about as loud as I like it these days. I've actually measured the amp's output at this volume and, depending on the music, I use about 1.5 watts average to hit 85 dB at my listening position with 88 dB sensitivity speakers in a 15' X 23' room.  

With your speakers, that 1.5 watt output would need to be roughly 5 or 6 watts. Keep in mind you need more than that to handle the dynamic peaks.

Now, if I were a headbanger and  wanted 100 dB+ volume in the room, I'd need roughly 100 watts, plus more for peaks. 

Keep in mind all of these are just rough approximations. 

One of the takeaways is you need to get your hands on a sound level meter. That's the only way to get a solid idea of your volume needs. Besides a dedicated meter, there are also apps you can buy for your smart phone, though the calibration accuracy might be dicier. 

But, if you were happy with low to moderate volumes, 26 watts a channel might be more than enough. However, keep in mind that we haven't even scratched the surface. Placement of the speakers within the room is a critical issue. Also, the manner in which this amp interacts with your speakers is also important. Some speakers have very demanding impedance curves that can really tax an amp. Some amps just can't handle certain speakers.  You might see if you can temporarily borrow a different amp to see if that makes a difference.  I'd get everything else working better before I started worrying about cables. 

As you can see, there are a lot of factors to consider. But the more you know about your listening needs, the more likely you are to reach a solution that pleases you.

Wow... thank you so much for all of this insight! I now realize that I am dealing with way more factors than I could have imagined. Elliott,  I will think on using the crown powerbase 2. I have a friend who will also let me borrow his amp. Thank you for the detailed instructions on how to set that up.

missstl thank you for explaining the difference in sound the mirages put out vs others. There’s so much I am unaware of on this topic. I will see how it performs with a different amp.

My speakers are in my carpeted finished basement with 6’10” h ceilings. There is also some clutter as well which could interfere. I don’t know the exact square footage. The most wide open section approximately 42’x 20’.

8 sets of comments from M1 owners you may find helpful.

http://www.audioreview.com/product/speakers/floorstanding-speakers/mirage-loudspeakers/m-1si.html

When the time comes to upgrade your speaker cables try to use cables that are as short as you can. The 9ft cables are OK but I try to use speaker cable lengths much shorter than that.