I just bought an emotiva dac. Still havent decided what amp and speaker, probably emotiva's too.   What kind of cables and wire do people use for components in my price range?

Looking to replace my ipod touch. Been interested in Cowon for awhile. Which one is the best? I'm only interested in sound quality. Don't need the other features I had on my touch. Besides Cowon, anything else I should look at as far as mp3 with great sound quality?