Magnepan 1.7i Amp recommendations

This is somewhat against the “common knowledge” of massive wattage, but a couple of experienced, enthusiastic Magnepan dealers describe a particular synergy with Hegel integrateds and the 1.7i, including their smaller models the H-80 (discontinued), H-90, and Rost.The longtime Magnepan dealers are Audio Excellence (Toronto) and Audio Emporium (Milwaukee).
The H-90 lists at $2000 new- thinking you should be able to get at least 10% off.
If you are open to used-
A Rost is on Audiogon for $1399 (list at $3K), and another Rost is on eBay with a current bid of $1200 (seller is a Hegel dealer, Overture in Wilmington DE - demo?)
Audiogon also has the much more powerful H-300 at $1499- it is a couple of generations back.
A used H-160, which was Hegel’s recently discontinued middle of the lineup model, might also pop up at the top of your price range.There are watts and then there are watts. Hegels all have very high damping factors to give an usually tight grip on the speaker movement.
The other atypical  Magnepan combination I’ve heard about (with a lower powered integrated) is the Naim Nait 5, but you’d lose the good DAC incorporated in the Hegel.

I have a Hypex NC252 for my Ohm 1000s and it sounds great. I bought the amp from VTV, which is based in Ohio. The unit is under $600 shipped, so you might want to consider that option. They also have higher power Hypex units available as well as the Purifi amp.

(PS, I had a pair of Maggie 1.6QRs some years back which I really enjoyed, but they are so room-dependent that I had to replace them after a move to a new house. However, in the right space, Maggies are fine speakers.)

What is everyone's thoughts on Denafrips Hyperion? 80wpc 8ohm, 150wpc 4 ohms. It measures better than most Hypex modules and is class ab. Lovely chassis too.

@returntomusic

i am a big hegel fan, their amps simply sound great

i am also quite trusting of the gang at audio excellence in toronto, vilip, young j etc... they are able to extensively test what they are talking about in their shop, do proper a-b comparisons -- i have found their read on equipment VERY much on target

that been said, one should note that older hegels have quite obsolete onboard dac implementation at this point - if one buys a rost, h90, h160 much less even prior gen h100/300 amps, they will need to get a modern outboard dac to have top notch sound

the point of the latest line of hegel units - h95, 120, 190, 390 and so on is specifically to upgrade their dac sections

leaving aside the dacs, the preamp/amp sections of the older hegels ARE totally competitive and are truly excellent

Jjss49- Point taken, the DACs in the prior series were getting long in the tooth, and DAC refinement is a significant part of this last series improvements, (particularly in the H-190, 390 & 590). That is the disadvantage of a built in DAC, as digital technologies rapidly evolve.