Zu Omen or Tekton Lore

Hi everyone,

I've got a few questions with respect to the M-Lore. I am leaning towards buying this speaker sometime in 2012 as part of my first step into high efficiency speakers mated to a tube amp. Questions:

1. My room is about 13 x 11 - on the small side. Is the M-Lore too large? I worry because when I tried a pair of Monitor Audio RX2, with the 8" woofer and rear port, it overloaded the room. I'm sure the front ports on the Tekton will help with this but I'm still a little worried.

2. Think I read this info somewhere but I can't find it now. Please describe the crossover (or lack thereof). I believe it is just a cap in front of the tweeter with the woofer running full range. Is this right, and what frequencies does each driver handle?

3. I will consider tube amps (new or used) in the range of $1,500. Integrateds with four inputs and a volume control are preferred. SET or push-pull? I listen to mostly rock music. I'd like to buy American, European, or Japanese, but might consider some of the more respected Chinese brands. Any suggestions? Brands that have caught my eye so far are: Rogue, Almarro, Decware, Pure Sound, and Primaluna (latter two are made in China I believe). I assume the likes of ARC, Unison, and Mastersound are out of my price range. Thanks!

Yeah Zman, that's kind of disappointing that the speaker has a crossover. I was kind of jazzed to try one without, knowing how many people feel that crossovers muck up the sound.

Thanks for the tube amp recommendations. The Stingray looks sweet but I think it comes without a remote. I tend to make small volume adjustments while listening so not having this would be a bit of an inconvenience. Still, I will consider it as sound and build quality trump convenience. The Niteshade stuff looks fantastic. Never heard of this company before but they are definitely an option as well. It looks like they will build basically any amp you want, and what they've done in the past looks first rate.