Building a system from scratch (other than speakers)

Thank you all for the advice so far. To clarify a little bit:

simao - I live in central Mississippi, so high-end audio stores and in-home demos don't really exist here. The company that sold me the Martin Logans went out of business. I do have an audio consultant that helped me with home theater but he only deals in Mcintosh and Rotel and has no inventory/sound room.

adg101 - I was trying to be all-in around $5K but can stretch that some I need to. 

mesch - honestly, I don't know what the partition will be. I have a fair amount of vinyl and far more cd's. I'm sure I will lean more towards one than the other after I build the system and have some time with it. I mostly listen to classic rock (think grateful dead to led zeppelin), some newer rock/alternative leaning towards more acoustic (think nirvana unplugged to dave matthews/tim reynolds), and some classical, jazz, and blues. Sorry I'm not more help on the partition, that's why I was leaning towards the relatively cheaper turntable. 

jafant - thank you! yes, will have to start a new thread for cable/cord recommendations when I get components figured out.

douglas_schroeder - yes, trying not to be hasty and finding that very difficult! I had an Emotiva xsp1 & xpa2 in my amazon cart the other day just because I was being impatient and wanted to get going - decided to try to be strong and seek professional help i.e. this forum. When you say server/mac mini, are you meaning storing some form of uncompressed audio there to play through the system?

 

yes, trying not to be hasty and finding that very difficult! I had an Emotiva xsp1 & xpa2 in my amazon cart the other day just because I was being impatient and wanted to get going - decided to try to be strong and seek professional help i.e. this forum. 

You will find that patience is a virtue, both as a buyer, and as a seller.
Those in a hurry rarely get a good deal, unless they know the market very well.

Approaching just the amplification matter, those who choose tube amplification for MLs usually do it because MLs are oft unlistenable with SS, notice I stated oft not always.  Very harsh and revealing.  An Allnic Audio T-1500 listed on A'gon would be a very sweet match, image wildly and settle the panels.......however at approximately 12wpc 300B SET power they will NOT rock the MLs.

Rogue and EAR also make nice gear to drive the panels, again not to rock them.  For that you will need really expensive tube gear or heavy duty SS like Odyssey with lots of damping to control the panels.  These panels are tricky as a wattage rating is practically useless in translating what will happen.  Best of luck.

Celtic66,
I'm a devoted owner who immensely enjoys a SET 300b amplifier. The Allnic you cite has been praised universally.  However I believe that his speakers would be better matched with a good quality push pull tube integrated /power amplifier  (good output transformers and stout power supply ). I'd really recommend looking at used  amplifiers to maximize purchasing power.Line Magnetic and Quicksilver are a couple of good tube brands to consider. 
Charles, 

There's many SS amps and integrated amps that will sound great on your ML's. I've heard the Parasound Halo Integrated on Magnepan 1.7i - 3.7i and it's a really nice amp; not harsh or thin and drives the Pans with plenty of power for most. If you can spend more the ModWright and Pass gear is hands down better and your speakers are in my opinion more in that league. 

Not sure how extensive your vinyl collection is but maybe start with the digital side first and add the analog gear later when budget allows. I wouldn't skimp on the amp too much with your speakers. 

I'd forget a tube amp on your speakers unless you can drop some serious coin and want to deal with the cost retubing such a beast you'll need for your MLs.

Call ModWright and see if Dan has a show demo on the KWI 200. He knows as much as anyone does on the Oppo you're interested in too. If he has a demo and is willing to part with he'll give you a good price.

In my opinion, if you don't step up to a high end Integrated amp such as the ModWright you wasted money on the MLs. The ModWright KWI 200 will get close to tube sound without the cost and headaches down the road. Only mention Integrated as you'll spend a lot more for separates and cables to do better.

If you're using your Theos in a home theatre set up with a receiver you have not heard your speakers yet. Hopefully you have a dealership near that has something you can drag home just to see what your speakers can do. A lot of people bash MLs because they've only heard ok gear on them; they're very revealing so crap in - crap out it goes. 

Good luck