Any recommendations out there for upgrading these cables keeping costs in line with current equipment? I really am at a loss on budgeting for these and am thinking < $500. Would cables costing $300-500 for example have any improvement over my $23 ones? I do need 20-25 feet though due to room set up.
Several factors to consider here. First yes for sure there are huge improvements to be made with better cable. And yes I do mean huge. Like you won’t believe. The question of how much to budget is in one sense no different than any other component. Wire is every bit as much a component as amp, speaker, etc. So like ghdprentice said, well worth sizeable investment.
f you were talking about building a system and the subject was speakers you would certainly consider allocating a lot more than a couple hundred bucks to speakers. Same for cables. Do not make the mistake of under-allocating because it is "just wire".
If yours was a normal system, speaker cable 6 to 10 ft, I would say invest time and money in finding something really good. Because that length can easily be sold later. And that short you can afford some real high quality. At 25 ft though resale is marginal at best, making quality way too expensive both on the front and back end.
What you should do in your situation, read up on this helix cable https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/who-makes-your-fav-cable-loom-in-2021/post?postid=2257341#225... This is something you can make yourself, get way better quality than anything you can buy at that length, and then later on when your system changes it can be easily cut down and/or reconfigured to even higher quality without having to spend extra. I am not usually big on DIY when it comes to cables but there’s exceptions to everything and this strikes me as a prime example.
There's guys on here with tons of experience building these things more than happy to help. What we're here for.