What are you 'TRULY' Looking for in Loudspeaker...

Pubul57... My 94db Tannoys almost do everything on my list. But, I'm thinking about selling them and trying to get a little closer to nirvana. And, like your Merlins, they are on a short list of reasonably priced speakers (say less than $10k) that get allot right.
You solve the efficiency problem with OTL's. For my tastes, they just don't have enough what I call "weight of tone". Other people may call it "color," which is cool... I'm not offended. It's what I like and what sounds more live to me. Anyway, to get what I'm looking for, I need to go higher efficiency to play nice with my PP 45/2a3 amps.
Yes, I realize that I'm never going to get a Wilson Max like bass slam with low watt amps whereas you probably can with OTL’s. But, my priority is that I HAVE to get the tone right and then I go from there.
So, I know I can get 3 out 4 absolutely right on my list but the “trade off” is that I am never going to have giant bass slam. Which sucks because live music is all about big dynamic bass. But that’s the way it goes and life isn’t always fair. I’ve always been a little bit jealous of OTL lovers because you get to have it all.
So, if I can get good mid bass (which the Tannoys have in spades- btw) and tinker around with some powered subs, I think I can get pretty happy.
Now, if I was a big orchestra fan, my priorities would be completely different and I imagine big Solid State amps and corresponding speakers would be great.
As you may devise, I don't believe in ” THE” absolute sound just “MY” absolute sound.

TRULY? Are you for real? You mean TRULY?

Tall, thin, protuberant tweeter, big woofers, tight bass, fishnet grill, spiked feet, leather baffle, three ports, exotic cherry hard wood finish, active and dynamic with high sensitivity, and never need maintenance.

Oh, one more thing, and this is really a given for a speaker, it should never have a headache...

Goosebumps

Shadorne>> your description is just about the same as mine...for my ideal woman! Just add push-up bra, hair color and swish of the hips when she walks and you've got her nailed perfectly!

When I read your question I didn't take it that you are looking for advice, just curious as to others thoughts. So here are my thoughts.
To the extent my budget and time allowed I have "studied" this in the most thorough way possible. Found Audiogon almost ten years ago and began buying speakers for "study" in with my ears. What I have found is that I want a speaker that I can listen to for hours without thinking about the speakers, system or any other audio related gotchas.
Although I can't imagine not looking for something better, I do believe I have found what gives me all I want. I can listen for hours (if I ever have the time) and while doing this I keep turning it up just a smidge more without it irritating me. This isn't possible with most of the speakers I've owned. In fact, I recently purchased a pair of monitors valued at more than 3 times my current monitors and I kept turning them down to save my ears. They had way too much of the "audiophile" flavor.
How many speakers have I owned? I swear I could not answer that question with certainty.