Go to Passive line only when you have enough money in your hand, otherwise always go with Active Speakers. My close friend Ravi had the topping amp with mordaunt short speaker and said that when he open the volume and reach at 12 O' clock position so the AMP loses control over the speakers. The bass loses control. After some time he sold this Topping AMP and bought the Leema Acoustics Pulse AMP.
As iaudio mentioned, the Topping Amps shine with sensitive speakers. My guess is that the MS speakers aren't that sensitive. Many passive speakers have a low impedance in addition to a low sensitivity, and aren't a suitable match. I believe even Wharfedales aren't that sensitive, so those are also ruled out.
However the TP20 pairs well with Usher S-520, and the Cambridge S30, both of which are sensitive entry-level speakers.
I have the S-520 (bought it from the HiFiVision's OP
), and nowadays i have it paired with TP20. The combination serves me very well for nearfield listening. Going above 9 o'clock is usually too loud for most music. Going to 12 o'clock is loud enough for listening from the other end of the room. I think it starts distorting around 2 or 3 o'clock, but never needed it that loud.
antz123, the Topping prices you're quoting seem ridiculously high. I think you're seeing the 'global import' section in Indian Ebay site. Go directly to the HongKong Ebay site, and you'll find the price around USD $80 ~ $100. When importing, i guess customs can set you back by some more hundreds of rupees. Its a hit and miss affair. I wasn't charged any customs, but others haven't been that lucky.
I think S30 should be <10k, and Topping T20 should be ~5k, so you can have a passive combo at ~15k. The only issue is that if you want to upgrade the speakers, likely that you'll have to also upgrade the amp (Passive integrated amps usually start around ~30k).