+1 on the 57's. Gosh they make things easy. Good luck on your quest. I've had good luck with some budget mics, that get frowns but then again I'm still developing my ears. : )
It's probably not the cables. I've used top-dollar cables, and 5-dollar cables. And I've made my own. And I could never tell the difference. If you don't believe me, buy one (just one!) really expensive cable, and switch it out with whatever else you've got. Record with 'em both, close your eyes, and listen back. It's not the cables.
The main difference between good and bad cables is the connections on the ends (which is why I've taken to making my own).
In fact, I just noticed some nasty noise in one of my main vocal channels and switched out cable after cable. Nope. It was the location of the cable. It was picking up some nasty interference from some electrical in the wall. I pulled it away from the wall--and bingo! Quiet! The funny thing is that after I pulled it to it's new location, I needed a longer cable. I had a real expensive 20' monster on the mic before. Now I have a really cheap-ass 50' cable on it, and it's just as quiet.