What everyone is saying. Let them break in. Spend too much time pondering speaker placement. Work on your room. Your room is close to square, which can be challenging; get them off the front wall as far as you can, 4'+ if possible. I've used single subs in the past but am loving two small RELs that keep up with the Maggies nicely--and I'll try the North Carolina four-corners (swarm) approach at some point. There are lots of threads here and on other forums-- the Planar Circle (Audiocircle) and the Planar Speaker Asylum (Audio Asylum), for example--that toss about amp ideas. Bryston comes up (I've used Bryston and they're excellent), Pass, Magtech (Roger Sanders is simply awesome), Hegel, etc. People use tubes as well; check out the comments on Atma-Sphere (Ralph is also simply awesome). Maggies don't present a complicated load but they do appreciate some power. Also, Lots of people put a tube pre-amp in front; I've got that happening now and enjoy it. Maggies are a bit of a project but when you get them dialed in, they're lovely.
Best Amps for Magneplanar 1.7i Speakers
I have a new pair of Magneplanar 1.7i speakers. Source material is CDs played on an OPPO 105D disc player, and Qobuz streamed through the OPPO. Current amplification is Rogue Audio Sphinx (version 1). I have an old B&W powered subwoofer (ASW2000) connected to the subwoofer outputs on the Sphinx. Listening room is about 15’x14’, ceiling height 9’. The sound quality is reasonably good but at times it feels a little underpowered. I’d welcome thoughts on whether the Sphinx is enough amplifier for the speakers and what other amplifiers (integrated or pre- and power-amp combinations) might work well? Especially interested in views regarding tubes versus solid state. Budget for the amp or amp combo is $4,000 to $8,000. Thanks in advance!