I read about this on Jeff Day's blog "Jeff's Place". I got the 8402 IC's assembled from Best-Tronics Manufacturing in Chicago and have been using them for a couple of weeks. $120 for 2 one meter pairs shipped. My ears agree with Jeff's opinion.
I just hooked up the WE 14ga wire to my speakers.
It needs to settle in but I can tell it's not going anywhere. The 16ga is no longer available.
Dueland now has a similar 14ga wire that is $9.95 a meter from Parts Connexion. It is supposed to be better that the WE that I paid $2 a foot for. If I did not have the WE I'd have gone for the Dueland. Oh, the wire is not manufactured by WE but made to their specs, which are not hi-tech, by a wire company in Rhode Island. It's simply 26 strands of tinned copper wire.
Wire does make a difference but price and performance are not always directly proportional. If you are thinking about cables check out the blog. YMMV.