Last year, I did a speaker hunt too with Rockport Verity(aquila & sarastro 2)being prime candidates. Both great speakers with different design approaches. If you want to run tubes, Verity would open you to more choices. My general observation is that Rockport ( at its best) is more dynamic in the bass. They also measure better by stereophile measurements with a more heroic cabinet and better dispersion.
Verity is more transparent in midrange and up (may be with first order crossover & ribbon tweeter). They both use different variants of audiotech. midrange. The Rockport was significantly less impressive when bass drivers firing inward. My concern would be bass cancellations. Bass may vary depending on stereo/mono content of the bass. It is true that bass frequencies is omnidirection. However, woofer direction changes phase of bass frequencies + modal excitiation of the room. My room is narrow so easy for me.
The bass quality has much more to do with the room, room/speaker coupling than just the speaker alone. You would have to pick the speaker with bass alignment (sealed, ported, firing direction) that matches the room (less modal exicitation). Before treating my room, bass was ponderous and fuzzy. Treating the room yield tight impactful bass. This goes for any speaker including the rockports. If you don't treat the room, you maybe better off with sealed port design like Magico or Avalon (bottom ported).
