Integrating a second cat into the home

Hi,

I have a 3-year-old female Maine Coon mix who I adopted from a rescue when she was 1.5 years old. It's just the two of us and I feel like she's lonely when I go to work, but I'm not sure. It's my first Maine Coon (mix) so I have some questions for you Maine Coon veterans out there. Do they generally prefer to live with other cats (I know that's individual and not breed-specific, but generally speaking)? Samantha has some hearing issues, but she in on meds that allow her to hear a bit. I've never seen her around other cats so I have no idea how she will be. I've been looking at kittens thinking it would make for an easier transition, but today I met a 1.5 year old female Maine Coon mix that almost looks like her twin, though slightly less furry. I fell for her and am thinking maybe she's the one. I hung out with her and she seems very sweet, let me pet and brush her, and seemed to be non-aggressive (it was room with lots of other cats). My current cat, Samantha, is very sweet and loves to be held, but I don't know how she is with other cats. I know that bringing in a male would make it easier, but male cats produce more fd1 (the allergen that is the main culprit for human allergic reactions to cats) than female cats do, so I am leaning toward a female cat since I am allergic and living with two will mean twice the allergens! I am doing this for my cat, not me (I'd prefer to be a one-cat household), so I really want it to me more than the two of them just tolerating each other.

So my main questions are:

1. Do Maine Coon's generally perfer other cats around?
2. Do you think introducing a 1.5 year old female maine coon mix to my 3yo maine coon mix is a good idea or would a kitten be better?

thanks!

We had a two-year old MC who definitely got lonely when we weren't at home - the neighbours got very fed up of his howling!
We got him a 14 week old kitten for company, thinking he'd cope better than with an adult cat. The positives were that, as he was terrified of the kitten, at least she was a lot smaller than him at first! On the negative side, he was an adult, she was an idiot and kept dive-bombing him and generally being a kitten. It's only since she turned 1 that they have really started to get on well, now she appreciates his personal space and is behaving more sensibly.
As MCs are quite different to ordinary cats, I would definitely make sure that the new cat was at least half MC so they are going to be more similar in behaviour and I would say 1.5 years old could well be perfect.
There will be an adjustment period, Feliway is a great help, so is having more cat stuff than you think you could possibly need so they don't have to fight over things.