First HIFI system

Even on a budget there are all kinds of options. Tekton Mini-Lore with a good $800 integrated for example, might seem to leave you with nothing to listen to. But you could connect your phone to that and it will sound better than the Marantz receiver. That's how big a difference there is between an integrated amp and a receiver. Then in a month or so upgrade to a streamer or whatever source. Then as funds allow upgrade the speaker cable, interconnect, put Pods under everything.... year or so from now you have a truly fine system.  

This approach also allows more time to focus on what you are doing, and why, and learning more about each component. Plus as you learn more you benefit more because each new upgrade you know more and have a better idea what you're doing than in the beginning. People who buy everything all at once have the instant gratification but almost always within a month or so are thinking of what they would have done different. So take your time, make fewer mistakes. Mistakes cost money. Don't make em!

Btw, it is not the power rating that excludes the Marantz from consideration. It is a CD receiver. Whatever that is, it is a lot of stuff crammed into one box. Seems like a value but the sound quality will be atrocious!    

Yet another filter: integrated amp. No receivers, for damn sure no AVRs. The more stuff they put in there, the less you want it. Only exception, phono stage. Maybe. That's it. Integrated.

Answering your question pblayer got me looking and I came across an important point mentioned earlier, the value in buying direct from the manufacturer. Please take a minute to check out the user review here https://tektondesign.com/product/full-range-speakers/flagship/moab/#color The second one from David Das. He's talking about Moabs (which I have and highly recommend) but the math applies equally to the Mini-Lore. Eric uses much higher quality drivers than you would ever find in other speakers of the same price.

Your guy is nuts, the Monitor Audio is only 88dB sensitivity. 

Look, you are on a budget, you have to be smart. Anything low sensitivity is going to call for more power in other words more money. There's a million components, a thousand great ones, and one of the ways you narrow down the field to something manageable is by eliminating all the stuff that is only going to cost you money, and one of those filters is low speaker sensitivity. Even if all you do is ignore everything below 95dB that one thing alone will make your life so much easier. 

You can now look for any amp 20 watts and up. There are a lot of very good very reasonably priced amps around 20 to 50 watts. You can find them cheap at 200 watts, but not good. So this one little 95dB thing both saves you money and gets you better sound. 

Watch the guys who got sucked into buying low sensitivity speakers scream! Too late for them. But not for you. Listen and learn.  

You don't mention a budget. Very important you have a budget. One more filter. The two speakers you mention are $600-800 so I assume that's your budget and so you want a good speaker 95dB sensitivity $600-800. Here you go: https://tektondesign.com/product/full-range-speakers/mid-towers/mini-lore/#color
Do a search, read the reviews and comments, you will find this is a very well regarded speaker. Huge improvement over the two you were looking at. A big part of this is they are direct from the manufacturer.
The cheap wire you are looking at is probably only barely better than lamp cord. I would skip it and search around for some used Synergistic Research speaker cable. Anything you find for around $100 will be light years better than XT40. 

You still need an integrated amp, source, and interconnect. For starters. What's your budget?