Saki,
I think I am sitting tight for the time being. I keep having these "huge grin moments" with old, familiar recordings sounding so much more enjoyable than they ever have in the past. I'm not talking about "I can hear the bass player cough at 5:23," neurotic audiophile moments, but a sense that I'm listening to "a performance." It's just hard to describe otherwise... as cliched as this sounds (forgive me) I'm enjoying music rather than listening to hi-fi. So the Kit 1 has elevated my De Capo's to a higher level and I'm really enjoying them, yes.
Now, does that mean I've totally conquered the audiophile "what if" reflex? No, I haven't.
If I had about $2000 to play with, I'd buy a pair of Omega Alnico monitors and a/b them with the De Capo's. Louis Chochos of Omega builds every one of those speakers by hand, including the hemp cone alnico drivers themselves, which are exclusive to Omega. They are said to transcend many of the "traditional" single-driver pitfalls, such as "shouty" Lowther/Fostex upper mids, and people on the Omega forum at AudioCircle say that they are simply extraordinary with SET amps. Unfortunately, $2K in mad money isn't there right now, and I am delighted enough with my De Capo/Kit 1 pairing not to mess with success by selling them just to try something new. Of course, the Tekton Lore 2.0 is also a possibility to experiment with when finances permit.
Mikirob: Thanks a lot for the kind words! When are you thinking of pulling the trigger on the Kit 1?