Power Amp for Rogers Studio 1?

[wemist01]

I recently purchased a pair of Rogers Studio 1s that a local hi-fi nut had restored to the tune of $1k and was selling complete with custom stands for under $500 just so he'd have room for his next project. Right now I'm driving them with a 35w NAD receiver that I bought somewhere around 1995. The Rogers already sound better than what they replaced (and they sounded wonderful in the seller's home), but I need to get some decent power in the chain to make the most of them.

The NAD has pre-outs, so I've been looking at power amps around 100w. I'm not going to put a lot of money into this; my cash goes for camera gear generally, and my listening environment demands headphones for a truly quality listening (vintage condo, kids, cramped urban lifestyle). But I know the difference a strategic upgrade could make here. I'm looking at used gear under $500, and considering some vintage gear from 80s/90s. Heck, I was even researching a Son of Ampzilla this morning. Any recommendations welcome. Thanks.

 

[jjmcf]

Ive had a pair of these for several decades and never found a speaker with more accurate instrumental timbres, hence musicality and realism. Currently I’m driving them with a pair of 8 watt 2A3 triode amps that I built myself, and I can’t see why you would need 100watts to drive the Studio 1s in a normal room—mine is 12 x 15. In any event I’d recommend a tube amp; back in the heyday of the Studio 1s, most of their fans used either those little British boutique solid-state amps (Linn, etc) or tube amps.

 

[Zauberberg]

Ive had a pair of these for several decades and never found a speaker with more accurate instrumental timbres, hence musicality and realism. Currently I’m driving them with a pair of 8 watt 2A3 triode amps that I built myself, and I can’t see why you would need 100watts to drive the Studio 1s in a normal room—mine is 12 x 15. In any event I’d recommend a tube amp; back in the heyday of the Studio 1s, most of their fans used either those little British boutique solid-state amps (Linn, etc) or tube amps.

Hi, do you remember any specific Linn models that are a good match? - I also treated myself with Studio 1s recently. Any opinion on Quad 606, musical fidelity A1 or B1 as a potential match?

 

[rothwellaudio]

...I can’t see why you would need 100watts to drive the Studio 1s in a normal room...

Me neither. A 100W amp isn't automatically better than a 35W amp. Unless the 35W is actually clipping I can't see the benefit of 100W (which is only 4.6dB more anyway).