Amp recommendations

@z32kerber
Because you stated "I’ve always loved the sound", the following list starts with the highest priority:
1) Get your Cary Audio CAD 300B working again.  Finding a sound you love is the holy grail of audiophiles.  As amplifiers age, the sound quality gradually diminishes as the parts wear out.  You may not have noticed as this is a very gradual process.  Refurbishing/upgrading parts (tubes, capacitors, resistors) should at least bring the sonics back to the original level.
2) Get the designer's (Dennis Had?) opinion on what to do along with suggested other amps
3) Contact Cary Audio to get opinion on what to do along with suggested other amps

If you change your amps and/or speakers you will get a different sound, likely an upgrade but no guarantees that you'll like the change.  

With your budget, get a pair of VTA M125 mono block amps at 120 watts each. You can build them as a kit for all of $2300, or get them fully assembled and tested for about $3000 - less without tubes.

If you feel that you don’t need or want that kind of power, VTA has the ST-120, 60 wpc tube amp which is a Mac 275 killer. Full kit is $1200 and fully assembled/tested at about $1700. Without tubes fully assembled is $1455.

As usual folks negate to include the LxWxH of the room they're playing their system in but in this case it doesn't matter.

Man have you got the wrong amp for a 4Ω speaker, with a 88SPL that has a frequency response of 26Hz-20kHz. Once you get a demand for a note dipping under 60Hz you're pulling a freight train with a burro when you need a locomotive, (nice speaker by the way). Little wonder you fried your 30W amp. (nice pre-amp too).

You've got a tube pre-amp which will give you your classic tube sonic signature (before turfing that SPL 70 you may want to consider installing Mundorf Supreme Silver/Oil capcitors). Now you need a quality Amp with brains and brawn to man handle those speakers.

It's a wide variance but IMHO consider a used Bryston ST4B, a Krell KSA 200S, one of the Class A Thresholds, or if you're dead set on the headache of driver tubes, a new ANTIQUE SOUND LAB HURRICANE 200 DT, or a used RAY LUMLEY M-150 (if you can find one).


  I'm with Russ69 save the 300B if you can and use it for a second system.

1 z32kerber used the Cary amplifier driving the Chapman speakers for 23 years!!! I doubt that he "fried" the Cary amplifier.
2 Agree that the Bryston, Krell or Threshold amplifiers will provide a different sound presentation, better? Maybe or maybe not, but he loved the Cary-Chapman combination. This is a major positive point.
3 I like his idea of getting more sensitive and easier to drive speakers if he were to  make changes.
4 Of course the opportunity to hear different amplifiers is a good step if this is feasible to arrange.
5 On paper the recommended higher power /current solid state amplifiers will certainly drive the Chapmans but this doesn’t mean in actual listening sessions they would sound as good as the 300b push pull Cary. A direct comparison would be great to do. My money would be on the Cary for superior overall sound quality. 
Charles

@charles1dad 
what speakers would you recommend to pair with the Cary 300B?