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!


uberdine
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.
Why focus only on new?  There are many hobbyists who trade gear weekly or monthly.  Buy something gently used, and you can stretch the $8k budget to $10 or $12k worth of gear.
My limited input concerns Schiit and Rogue . I’ve had 3 Schiit DAC’s , currently the Yiggy . Get at least the R2R models . The Rogue Sphinx and the RP1 are greatly improved with a pair of nos Telefunkens and an entry level power cord. I’ve also had good results pairing Anti-Cables with Rogue gear . They are affordable and break in fairly quick . This is all from my living room . Also beware of trying to put big SS power behind a tube preamp . With an entry level tube pre, you might get more noise than you want . However, I’ve heard good things about the Schiit pre’s . My friend is happy with his new McIntosh hybrid integrated. He’s dumping his Chronus Magnum in his office and his Hera, M-180 combo in his main room . He went Bryston on the main system . His comment about the McIntosh was how much more tube like it was compared to his Chronus sounding dry . Happy Hunting.  
I know he is set on Magnepans, but I would beg him to reconsider if his music is any type with the word "Rock" in it. If he likes cranking it up, then he will be sorely disappointed. The Magnepans are so inefficient, that a reasonably priced tube amp just won't get to any level that I would call loud.

I know this, because it happened to me. I bought my MAC6700 used with no speakers in mind, and after several weeks auditioning speakers, ended up buying a new set of .7's - auditioned on a Rouge Sphinx which sounded incredible. I just didn't realize I was listening to them at the shop with the Sphnix at 3/4 volume. When I got them home, by the time I got the volume up, the McIntosh was hot to the touch after only 15 minutes, and it still was just touching "Loud". I ended up returning them and buying some Klipsch RF7-III's, and I have zero regrets.

I love the Magnepan sound, but I would look for an amp to go with them that brags about "High Current" or something similar in their specs. I was looking hard at Bel Canto Ref1000m's used (make sure you get the M version) or the new Ref600's (27 amp peak output current each) but I decided to keep the McIntosh and get a better matched speaker.

Just a thought to pass on to him.

-Geoff
I agree with your friend on the Maggies.  I have three pairs and they are great high performance bargains.  But as others above have stated, they require a lot of power to sound their best. He should be looking for an integrated amp of at least 100 watts per channel. Anything less and he won’t realize the Maggies’ full potential.