Whirlwind cables have a lifetime guarantee and are excellent.

Speaker cables carry a higher voltage and need to be heavy gauge wire. Shielding is a waste of time because they are not at all subject to RF interference.  Speaker cables need 2 wires of identical gauge. So you can use 2 wire extension cord from the hardware store for what it's worth.  I used #12 gauge for my PA and # 14 gauge for my studio monitors which of course are not powered. My powered speakers use the cables I posted above.
 
 Look up some prices on line and go back to L&McQ and ask for a price match. I know Tom Lee will always do this for me with in reason. That's why I shop there now. They always try their best to price match even against US prices.   
 

RSMCGUITAR
Still though, why so many unbalanced speaker cables for sale?

To my knowledge, there is no such thing as a balanced speaker cable. Speaker cables carry an amplified signal (i.e. watts) to a transducer. To my knowledge, that is always a two-conductor affair.

You do not want to use speaker cable to carry signal to a powered monitor. Yes, its a speaker. But when its a powered speaker, what you're actually doing is running signal to an amplifier. The amplifier is then carrying that signal to the transducer via its own internal hard wiring. Therefore no speaker cables are used when powered monitors are involved. Only balanced patch cables should be used in that scenario. Same as you would use to run between a mixer and an EQ or an EQ and a crossover or a crossover and an amplifier. Because again, what we're really doing is carrying the signal to an amplifier which just so happens to be installed in the back of a speaker cabinet. 

As for the price of balanced cables, I know of no better price buster when it comes to high quality audio cables than building your own. You can buy a couple hundred feet of very high quality bulk wire and a bunch of very high quality cable ends, heat shrink and a very good soldering iron setup for far less than the price of half a dozen so so quality ready made cables. Spend some quality time on youtube absorbing soldering how-to videos and you'll be soldering like a pro by the time you finish your third cable. A little time and effort can really save you a ton of cash.

I hadn't thought of making my own cables. However, at the moment, I only need two cables. It might be a little much to get into making cables for 2*6 footers.

Bulk cable doesn't have an expiration date. You only need two now, but sooner or later you'll need more.

Cactus Music
Speaker cables carry a higher voltage and need to be heavy gauge wire. Shielding is a waste of time because they are not at all subject to RF interference.  Speaker cables need 2 wires of identical gauge. So you can use 2 wire extension cord from the hardware store for what it's worth.  I used #12 gauge for my PA and # 14 gauge for my studio monitors which of course are not powered. My powered speakers use the cables I posted above.
 
 Look up some prices on line and go back to L&McQ and ask for a price match. I know Tom Lee will always do this for me with in reason. That's why I shop there now. They always try their best to price match even against US prices.   

True, but ONLY if you are driving passive speakers with a power amplifier. I think the OP is referring to the line level signals sent from his audio i/f to his powered monitors. Shielding is definitely helpful, and balanced makes a lot of sense.

E-Bay man go there.

I ended up ordering some cables from these guys: http://www.primecables.com/c-1010-audio-cables 

Those are very good prices. Let us know how they work out.
 
These days I buy all my cables from PartsExpress.com. I initially ordered a couple for a non-critical application to see what kind of quality they were, as they were very inexpensive. They turned to be excellent quality, metal plugs with strain reliefs, heavy insulation that tends not to tangle. Since then I've bought a bunch more.
 
A 10' TRS-TRS is $6.85. A 30' microphone cable with gold-plated contacts is $12.76. I couldn't have made my own cables for less.

They came today. They seem really great so far. I'm glad I held off.