I get a lot of e-mail about Rogers loudspeakers. This page summarises everything I know about models that haven't been mentioned elsewhere on this site - it's the culmination of lots of e-mail conversations and research, but please be aware that the information is not complete or totally accurate. I'm grateful to the numerous people who have helped me compile this information over the years, and I welcome corrections and further details from anyone with authoritative information. Finally, if anyone recognises their pictures and haven't received an appropriate credit for their inclusion, please let me know. I can be contacted at this page.
Contents
Various models from the Rogers "Studio" series
The "Studio" series was a long-running and very sucessful product line for Rogers. Many models were included over the years, but I have limited experience of them and can't say a huge amount about them personally.
The Rogers Studio 1
The is the first loudspeaker in the "Studio" series, and is a continuation of the format established by the BBC LS3/6 and Rogers Export Monitor. It uses an 8" Bextrene bass driver that was built in-house, using a diecast aluminium chassis - the first drive unit that Rogers designed and manufacturered themselves, I believe. It also used the Celestion HF1300 plus supertweeter layout that the earlier models used, and for that reason, I decided to place what I know about the Studio 1 on the LS3/6 et al. page.
The Rogers Studio 1a
The Studio 1a is a more recent development, and at a glance appears to have more in common with the LS7 than the earlier Studio 1. It is a two-way design, using a clear polypropylene cone woofer and a dome tweeter. Click here to read the Studio 1a brochure, kindly submitted by Cliff Law.
Thanks to Andrey Tiurpenko for sending me these pictures:
As you can see, they support "buy-wiring", as the market demanded at the time. The connectors are mounted directly onto the rear panel, rather than the thin plastic tray seen on the LS7 and others. The dimensions are the same as the Studio 1.
From the picture at least, the woofer looks identical to the unit used in the LS7t - does anyone know? The tweeter is a 34mm metal dome unit made by Celestion.
I haven't had the chance to hear them myself, but Andrey says that compared to the LS7t, the "Studio [1a] has better sound in all respects".
The Rogers Studio 2
This large loudspeaker uses the bass and treble drivers from the BBC LS5/8, and adds a super-tweeter. Not much is known about this model, but I believe that it was in production between 1984 and 1986.
I am indebted to Dave Callaghan for sending me these pictures of his pair, and allowing me to include them here.
The loudspeaker measures 815mm high by 380mm wide, and 425mm deep. In old money, that's roughly 32 by 15 by 16¾ inches, which gives a volume of roughly 4.5 cubic feet. That's slightly less than the BBC LS5/8, which is around 5 cubic feet, and the proportions are rather different as well.
The crossover is pretty complex - and although not visible here, there are additional components awkwardly mounted on the back of the PCB. The post-crossover connections are brought out to the rear panel for active use; the idea being that a low-level crossover would feed two power amplifiers that in turn would directly power the drive units (although the crossover between tweeter and super-tweeter is still being done passively). Of course, the low-level crossover would have been unique to this system. I wonder how many Rogers sold?
According to the label on the rear of the loudspeaker, the system has a power rating of an incredible 500 watts programme! Combined with a claimed sensitivity of 92dB/watt at 1 metre, these ought to be able to play fearsomely loudly! In really simplistic terms, 500 watts is 27dBW, meaning a single unit ought to produce peaks of 119dB SPL at 1 metre.
Also according to the label, they are flat to within 2dB between 40Hz and 20kHz.
The Rogers Studio 3
Dating from the early 1990s, the Studio 3 was designed by Andy Whittle. It is the baby of the range - it's basically the same size as an LS3/5A, and from the reviews I've seen it is probably the same cabinet - which makes economic sense, of course. The drive units are different. The 19mm fabric dome tweeter is from SEAS, and the 110mm woofer is made in-house, according to reviews, with the expected clear polypropylene diaphragm and a diecast chassis. There are bi-wiring terminals on the rear panel.
I've never seen or heard one, but reviews at the time were generally positive. Unlike the LS3/5A, the Studio 3 is designed to be used within 6 inches of the rear wall, and will sound very bass-light when used in free space. They could be ideal for people who have to place their speakers on a bookshelf.
Stereophile review of the Studio 3
The Rogers Studio 5
Without a brochure from the time, it's not quite clear to me where this model fits into the "Studio" line. Although I know very little about them, I do happen to have a pair, though technically they belong to work, and that is where they live, in my office. I rescued them from another part of the organisation when they were about to be thrown away because of a building move.
I'd guess they are from the early 1990s. The 19mm fabric dome tweeter is from SEAS, and the 6" woofer looks a lot like a SEAS design to me. The diecast chassis of the bass driver is very similar - from memory - to the SEAS used in my Musical Fidelity MC1s. The cone is transparent polypropylene - in the classic Rogers style - which makes me wonder if Rogers did the woofer in-house, perhaps using the SEAS "hardware", or if SEAS offered the translucent polypropylene themselves. Either is possible.
The enclosure is ported and there are bi-wiring terminals on the rear. Overall, the speaker is slightly smaller than an LS5/9 - it's certainly quite different to the 8" in a 2 cubic foot box format that many of the other "Studio" models used. Rather then the classic "BBC-style" square edges, the front edges of the sides and top/bottom panels are neatly rounded over, Harbeth-style.
While I've never listened to them critically, they sound much as you'd expect from Rogers - smooth and neutral. The bass doesn't seem all that extended for the size of enclosure, but there are air leaks caused by failure of the glue between the cone and the surround, so I need to fix those before coming to any conclusions. Also, the rubber surrounds do feel rather hard, so it's possible that my pair are rather past their best. One day I'll bring them home and take some good photographs and attempt to reglue the surrounds, and if successful I'll listen to them properly in the main system. In the meantime, they are perfect for a gentle bit of Radio 3 in the office!
The Rogers Studio 7
This was a redesign of the Studio 1a by Andy Whittle in 1993. The enclosure and bass/mid driver were retained from the Studio 1a, but the metal-dome tweeter was replaced by a 25mm soft-dome unit from Scanspeak. The bass alignment was altered to produce a drier, less boomy sound in a typical domestic environment. According to a review in the June 1993 issue of Hi-Fi News, the Studio 7 was much smoother and better balanced compared to the already high standard set by the 1a. Price then was £880 per pair.
The Rogers Compact Monitor
I was sent some pictures of the Compact Monitor a while back, but didn't know anything about them until I read Brian Pook's history of Rogers. Basically, they use a Bextrene-coned woofer from Dalesford in a scaled down sealed enclosure along with an Audax tweeter. I'm sure the Dalesford unit would be different to the one used in the Export Monitor, but they do look very similar from the front - just a slight difference in the dust cap.
The Rogers LS6
The LS6 was a popular model that existed in several versions. Sadly I haven't yet had the chance to examine or audition one yet, but I've been piecing together some basic information about them and hope to write it up soon.
The Rogers Wafer
A bit of an unconventional design, and also from a much earlier period than all the other speakers here, but I decided to include it here as I have just received some pictures from Jonty at Ideal Audio.
This design dates back to the 1960s, so before Rogers were involved with the BBC. According to Leonard Hicken's data, it was originally introduced in 1965 and was revised in 1973 - but at this time I have no information about what might have changed.
It is a 2 way unit that is intended to be hung on a wall - as such it is only 2½" deep. The height and width is 13⅛ and 16⅝ respectively.
The bass driver is a 5" unit that determines the overall depth of the cabinet. Indeed, there is a hole cut in the rear panel for the back plate of the magnet to sit in - an O-ring seal fills the gap, and a label further seals the cabinet. As far as I know, taking the cabinet apart involves tearing this label - not recommended!
Rather than a dome, the tweeter is a 3½" cone unit - common for the time, of course. The crossover frequency is 2.2kHz. The sealed cabinet is well-stuffed and the grille is Tygan.
There are 14 spacers joining the thin front/rear panels, but in the above photo there only appears to be 11. But there's another 3 hidden by the label, as this image shows:
I haven't seen or heard these speakers, and most of what I know about them comes from the brochures on this page: https://www.radios-tv.co.uk/rogers-speakers/
Further, there is some more information on Hi-Fi Engine - registered members can download a flyer which includes a review. By the way, it's free to join, so if you haven't yet, I'd definitely recommend you did!
Other non-BBC models from Rogers
There are countless other models that have been produced by Rogers over the years, and I can't pretend to know about them. Basically, if there is nothing about them on this site, then I can't help you. The brochures on this page might help. I do get a lot of e-mails about Rogers loudspeakers, but no, I'm afraid I can't tell you any more, and no, I've no idea what they might be worth!
Please feel free to submit any info that you think might be useful here - I'll gladly post it here.