Looking For 90% of the performane of the super expensive cables for much less money

@akg_ca 

The OP's goal might well be unrealistic but I've read your "...you get what you [pay] for......full stop" comment once too often.  I disagree.  Value doesn't follow price in lockstep.  There are exceptional, high value to price audio products out there.  There isn't a single price to value curve that applies to all components of a given type.  While I absolutely believe you can pay too little and regret it, it is also possible to overpay for what you get.  Would that pricing were always based on R&D, high quality materials, labor and a reasonable profit margin.  Advertising adds little value for me as the end user, but these do have to be recovered in the price.  Some manufacturers build brand equity into their pricing formulas.  Let's not even discuss the cynical (few) that use high price as a product differentiator and marketing tool.  

I make cables with Duelund wire. If you are into DIY you can also. Sold $2000 Cables for these and these sound better. The Duelund stranded copper wire in oil impregnated cotton is wonderful and as good as the big dollar cables I have owned. Better than most really. No need to spend more. $160 for ICs and some $200-$250 for speaker cables.  

If you select and pick carefully in the used market and avoid those marquee names that for whatever reason command used values far in excess of their relative worth (i.e. Nordost, Transparent) then you can do very well (btw not meaning to say that these aren’t great cables, just that their used values are much higher than equally good cables from other manufacturers, good if you are a seller, bad as a buyer)

My rule of thumb for used cables (assuming not current models) is as follows (recognizing that no one ever pays full list for a new cable as well)
- reasonable price range 30-40% of MSRP
- excellent value range 20-30% of MSRP
- a steal (or a fake, be careful) - less than 20% of MSRP

Avoid paying more than 35% of retail unless you really know you want that cable

Consider for example this "steal" that someone made yesterday
http://echohifi.com/details/12661/Shunyata_Stratos

You have a better chance of closing the gap if you purchase used. For interconnect cables something like Audioquest Niagara. Audioquest current Thunder powercord offers excellent value and you should be able to get the recently discontinued Wireworld Silver Eclipse 7 speaker cables for a decent price. 

Look at Audio Sensibility out of Toronto.

https://audiosensibility.com/blog/

ebm nailed it ........ Your OP title is  asking for a unicorn.

There is one irrefutable and irrevocable basic tenet in this crazy hobby as you meander the Yellow Brick Road to Audio OZ:

Everything is built to its price-point with a performance quotient in lockstep, and therefore you get what you paid for ...... full stop.

Good luck you will never get 90% of the performance of top cables such as Purist which i using at a very cheap price.Much of the cost is r&d materials and construction technics.Good luck though!!