Notable very small loudspeaker companies (other than Tekton!)

Fritz. Last show I went to he had among the best sound, was praised by musicians associated with Blue Coast Records. Very high quality parts at reasonable price points.

http://www.fritzspeakers.com/

He will basically whip something up or change it to your particular tastes. Bespoke speakers are not really something you can find at Best Buy prices anywhere else.

Two others I like:

Selah Audio: Top shelf drivers, carefully optimized over time with top shelf crossover parts. 
http://www.selahaudio.com/

Taylor Acoustics - If you like a kit but dont' actually want to build anything, or need a high quality cabinet:
http://www.taylorspeakers.com/

Best,

E

Clearwave Audio speakers.

Volti, Audio Note, Classic Audio, Shindo, Devore.

So the questions remains, how do many of these tiny companies rival and sometimes surpass the likes Revel, B&W and others?  Is it the genius of the individual designer?  A speaker "auteur", rather than a gaggle of cooks.

Of the ones on your list I've owned Salk, Philharmonic, and Selah. They compete by using off-the-shelf drivers (or slightly modified), excellent crossover design and, with Salk, phenomenal custom woodworking.  On the finance side, their R&D department is their own time/sweat, their marketing department is their customers and, finally, they sell direct.