I'd highly recommend a Hegel H190 integrated amp to go with the Maggies. Fantastic sound, all the power you'll need. If you need confirmation, go to Audio Excellence in Canada for youtube videos and see what they say re: Hegel amps and Maggies.
Friend needs advice for $8,000 system
My friend is starting out from scratch with an $8,000 budget. He listens to all sorts, but mainly indie rock. He's keen on the Magnepan .7 speakers and lives in a small apartment, so listening room about 4x3 metres. Don't worry about cables. We just need a power amp, a turntable, a cartridge, a phono stage, NOS tubes, and a DAC.
How do we achieve:
Truthful tonality/timbre
Truthful harmonics
Liquid sound
Transparency
Speed/Dynamics/Pace/Rhythm/Timing
Soundstage Coherence
All for $8,000 new.
Cheers!