Hi everybody! First off, thank you all so much for your thoughtful answers. I read all of them several times (often times more lol) and learned a lot.
I realized after reading, I should have supplied more info.
First, the speakers... They are the MG . 7- not a way up there model. The s/n is 155899-1&2. A gentleman asked for this info.
To another response, yes, I have done all the "Maggie things" in regards to placement. It is no joke when you say a 1/4. " adjustment makes a difference. I read all I could find and dinked with them for a solid week. They ended up roughly 4' out, towed in, tweeters in and 9' apart.
The amp part... This is where it gets weird. When I first got them, I put the them on my Pioneer AVR. This model (vsx-834) has a 4 ohm option. When I fired it all up I was underwhelmed. I sort of expected this. I will say however, the 834 did not have any trouble driving the Maggie's. Never got hot though I did have to crank the volume a bit. In everything I read, I knew I was supposed to have a lot more power, in particular, current. Due to my limited budget, I bought an old geezer Adcom amp that was mentioned a number of times. Using the preouts from my AVR, I fired it up. It was a wall of sound. Yes, it was loud and to my ear, rather unlovely. In a weeks time, one channel of the Adcom failed. I didn't cry, heck, that thing was only a couple hundred bucks and was new when I was in highschool. Tossed it into the garbage. I did learn the . 7's can get very loud.
So, back to the direct connection with the AVR. This time I added a 12' Klipsch sub. It was an epiphany of sorts. Suddenly, the . 7's sounded warm, rich and balanced. I was delighted and a bit surprised. I had continually read that Maggie's can't blend well with a sub. That, apparently (to me anyway) was a crock.
Problem solved, right? Nope. I want my HT back! I had, the whole time, been in two channel mode. Now I will need two separate systems. In trying to decide what I need on my thin budget I stumbled across another Pioneer product.. the integrated A-10 AE.
I kid you not, it was 200 bucks new. The specs claim 50wpc @4ohm (in my op, I stated 80, my mistake) and 30@ 8ohm. Anyway, this thing is barebones. Just two channel, designed for strictly music playback. I assumed, incorrectly, there would be pre-outs. No, it truly a basic 2 channel amp. Add this to my heap of mistakes lol. I hooked it up anyway and you know what? It actually is sounding good! Great sound stage, detailed in most respects. Vocal performances such as Dominique Fils-Aime are remarkable. I am able to achieve the volume I want without cranking this thing up very high.
But...... But .... But..... The lower end is blah and weak. On just about anything I listen to other than vocal performances and chamber type classical, they are uninspired to say the least.
So this is how I landed at this point and posed my original question. How is this cheap-ass integrated amp doing ok with rather low power? And, where do I go from here? My thought, building on what I discovered while running a sub, would be to buy two Emotiva 8" subs using the line level input and outputs. It seems this might work as I can control the crossover from these units.
Or do I scap that idea and work with something else? If money were not an issue, I am sure I could just buy my way into sonic bliss. I realize no matter what, the . 7's need a sub (s).
So, given the financial constraints of say, a thousand bucks, what might any of you do with these Maggie's?
Just a bit more info. I only hard wire stream at the moment via Qobuz. I do not have any interest in vinyl. I am CD capable but meh... to lazy to dig thru the 1,000's of discs. My dedicated listening room is, I believe, near perfect. 19x26, wall to wall carpet, minimal furnishings, no female (she has her own living room). Also, I never had a chance to audition these speakers. It is a 450 mile r/t to the nearest dealer for me. I live rather rural. I bought them on the glowing reviews. I knew going in they were difficult at times to deal with.
Again, thanks for reading and responding. Y'all are great.