Friend needs advice for $8,000 system

A friend of mine just helped me get set up for about $5k with the .7s, though I went for a SACD player and not a turntable (plus additional for upgraded power cables, interconnects, etc.):

Maggies - $1,500
Used BGW 500D amp from eBay (prev. owned by a church!) - $250
Custom built QA-112-Mk3 preamp from Space-Tech Laboratory - $850
Bluesound Vault 2i streamer/CD ripper with 2TB drive - $1,300
Used McCormack UDP-1 Deluxe SACD player (one owner) - $650

Either way, the Maggies will make him really happy, as long as he feeds them well! :)

Since when do .7's cost 3 grand?  You better tell your pal that Maggie's are a bitch to drive and that he's going to need need high current amplification.  Most integrated's are going to get spanked trying to drive those unless they are in the expensive range.  Been there, done that.

I would look for an integrated amp with dac, like Hegel h190.

Tubes and Magnapan’s with that budget is a no go IMO. You need power. You got to spend much more to get tubes that will put out the power needed for those.  This system would work great and fit in your friends budget.  You can find great reviews online of all these components.

1) PS Audio Stellar Gain Cell PreAmp/DAC $1600
2) PS Audio S300 Power Amp $1500
3) Lounge Audio LCR MKIII Phone Stage $350
4) Marantz TT15 S1 Turntable - $1500 - Comes with a fantastic MM cartridge.

And if you have any old components for trade PS audio has a great trade in program. Note, I don’t have any PS audio equipment but I have heard this system with maggies and it sounds great.