MMG or Vandersteen

Right now my Front speakers are about 2 Feet off the wall to allow the speaker to be in front of the TV stand. And they are about 8 feet apart. I also have a VMPS sub run by a Rotel RB-980BX bridged mono for the low end especially in Home Theater.

Is that 2 feet to the back of the speaker or the front?
Because Maggies need at least 30" minimum (but 40"+ is better) behind them.

If you can give them the space, and you have the power, I think it's an easy choice. Since you have a sub, I think as long as you can meet the first two requirements you should go for them.

You can try them for 60 days and if you don't like them send them back.
Here is two other tips.

1. Magnepan offers slightly used (returned from demo) speakers for $500. All speakers are inspected and still come with full warranty. According to Margaret (the girl that always answers the phone), most people can't even tell they are used. She recommends them.

2. If you mention you are an audioreview.com reader there is another $10 off.

That brings the price of the speaker down to $490 with a money back guarantee. So I would say order a pair. Then once you have some extra money get some good stands for them.

My TV stand is exactly 28" away from the wall, so the front on the MMG would be around 29-30 inches. They should be getting @180 watts of power in 4 ohm. Is there a decent say $250-$300 new or used Center that would work as a temp until I can buy a Magnepan one? I currently have a Axiom VP-150 I would like to replace. I hear Magnepans are great at imaging, But I still think in HT the Center is the most important speaker!

I built the stands for my current speakers so I am sure I could easily build MMG stands.

with 29 or 30" you should be good.
Magnepan also sells the MMGC (C for center) for $299. I am not sure how good it is? From what reviews say it's great. I just have not heard one.

You may be able to get a MMGC cheaper as a returned one, the audioreview.com discount might even apply to it as well.

Vandy's pure and simple. I recently suffered the Maggie disease. First the MMG does not have the feel of a substantial speaker. I owned them followed by the MG12's which were a considerable improvement. I now am using Paradigm Monitor 5's and about to climb the upgrade ladder again to either Proacs or Vandy's. The best way I know of to explain it is like this. The day after I saw Cassandra Wilson in concert at a lovely intimate venue (with great acoustics) I went to one of my favorite audio stores Bradford's Home Entertainment in Eugene, Oregon and auditioned Vandy 2ce vs Maggie 1.6's. The store owner Geoff thought that Cassandra sounded better on the Maggies and indeed she souded more colorful but she didn't like Cassandra. See this is where the problem lies with Maggies. Their presentation can be so impressive that we convince ourselves that because thay have that spooky there "in the room" presence that they are more accurate. That simply is not the case. Geoff doesn't see live music very often, I do. The Vandy's sounded like listening to Cassandra live. The entire presentation was like seeing Cassandra. The richness of her voice was particlarly convincing. If you have any questions feel free to email me.