[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by MBDiagMan

...The eventual mission will be a practice Amp in a man cave room I am putting together. I don’t need much volume, but I would like to have it be able to sound good at low volume, that is, not cranking it up to be heard at the other end of the house.

The guitars I will use with it are my Framus electric...For lack of a better description it is much like a Telecaster with primitive pickups. I am looking get a Mexican Strat or Squier, or maybe even ultimately an American Strat...

On an electric I play soft rock like Wonderful Tonight and Stairway to Heaven and some barre chord rhythm.

I don’t mind spending some money for the right setup...

I read in a thread about buying a Fender Champion 40 and then putting a decent driver in it. That sounds like it might be worth trying since it wouldn’t be risking much money.

...I may be ordering something without hearing it...

In no particular order:

• Given your preferred style it sounds like you need something with lots of clean headroom (FYI more watts aren't necessarily about more volume), that can also deliver a bit of grit on demand when you need it - which IMO rules out most of the low-watt single-channel studio/practice tube amps;
• While the Champion 40 with an upgrade speaker (given your prospective purchases - and based on what I know about '60s Framus electrics - I'd recommend an Eminence Cannabis Rex or Swamp Thang to smooth out/fatten up the tone) would likely be the least expensive option, I suspect you're looking for something with a more authentic tube tone; although the upgrade speaker will take out some of the harder-edged sonic artifacts, IME it's never going to sound quite "right" as compared to the real thing - which leads me to:
• These seem to be quite the cult favorite over on TDPRI - credit where credit is due, those guys/gals know how to make Fenders sound good - and given the price it's hard to go wrong:
  
  https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_...n=q2_2016_test
  
  
• While this one costs twice as much as the Monoprice, feature for feature you're entering the realm of "professional" equipment at a practice-amp price - and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it if you need to purchase sight unseen/unheard:
  
  https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/V22InfiCombo
  
  I've owned mine since 2010, done some low-tech mods (upgraded tubes/speaker and mild rebias - the last of which you'll never need to do thanks to the newer circuitry, which can save you a load of bucks in the long run), practice with it regularly, and have used it in houses up to 700 seats with clean headroom to spare; while I have larger amps ('65 Super Reverb RI, Fender Frontman 212R, Randall RB-120) as well as the baby-brother V5, this one's my set-it-and-forget-it/grab-&-go when I need good tone in a hurry, and don't want to find myself in a situation of too much/too little power for the job and/or too big a cabinet for limited stage space...

Should you decide to go the latter route, PM me if you're interested in the details of the aforementioned tweaks...