Maple is a closed grain wood, so it doesn't absorb stain uniformly. Whichever color you choose, I recommend you have the wood water popped before staining. Therefore your samples should be made with the same method. Water popping makes the wood fuzzy so it soaks in stain more uniformly. It also makes it darker, so use the same process for samples. We generally do two finish coats after staining, but when water popping a third coat will be required to get the desired smoothness.

The floor is likely to still have splotchiness after using this process, but my position is that I'd rather have the color I like with some splotchiness, rather than one I don't like.