DIY preamp to poweramp cable question

[Kuja]

Hi everybody!

I tried to replace those nasty metal thingies between pre and power sections on my vintage Kenwood KA-907 integrated.

I decided to make some cables of my own...

Recently I've got some quantity of relatively cheap AWG 20 solid core silver wire with Teflon insulation.
The wire is supposedly of 4N purity.

I made an IC cable, consisting of three braided wires, à la Kimber Timbre.

One wire is the signal wire, the other two are "return" wires.

RCA plugs are Eichmann Bullet Plugs.

I ended up not really liking the sound - it is somewhat dull and lifeless.
Maybe the silver is not pure enough, or it is too thick... skin effect?

Anyway, I've just found a source of some high quality AWG 22 "monocrystal" stranded silver wire, also with Teflon insulation.

This one is much more expensive!

The question is: can I still put to some use my old AWG 20 solid core wire?

Can I make a cable with an AWG 22 monocrystal stranded wire as a "signal" and use the old solid core wire for two "returns"?

It will be a lot cheaper and I will not throw away this solid core wire that I already have.

Are there going to be any penalties sound quality wise?

How important is the quality of "return" wire with this type of cable?

Thanks in advance,

Aleksandar

PS I don't know if this was the appropriate place to post this cable question, but there is no forum here dedicated to cables...

This is how Kiber Timbre looks:

[analog_sa]

Even 22 awg is way too thick for interconnects IME. Why don't you first settle on some reasonaby sounding wire in a simple twisted (or not) pair and then start playing with more advanced geometries.