Hi Ron, I built the X-Oticas and have lived with them for better than two years now, so perhaps I can offer some impressions, but not much on the comparison of the two. I'm in Idaho, so not exactly close by, but you'd be welcome to have a listen in a normal living room with furniture and virtually no acoustic treatments. Maybe Danny still has the protos I built and he'd be closer.
Some things you should know about me. I'm not a hyper detail freak, but rather like a little more relaxed presentation. Not soft or mushy, but natural and organic. Also I'm old and my hearing is...well, not perfect! You can read about my initial impressions (along with some frustration) at the end of my build thread. I've had three different amps hooked to them. All set up as balanced monos close to speaker and the same Cary SLP-03 preamp, also running balanced outputs.
Initially NCores, which may have attenuated the top end a smidge, but were overall crisp, clean and likable.
Next up were Schiit Vidars, which offered a different perspective. Some things better, some things not, but ever so slightly took the edge off top end which I liked.
More recently, Schiit Aegirs. This is a majic combo for me. The system exemplifies what I term organic sound. Ho-hum recordings aren't unbearable, which has not always been the case. An easy presentation that doen't dog me after a while. Very listenable. Danny described these as sounding beautiful, and I'd agree. I've had conversations with him about what's being left on the table by not using ribbon tweeter. I get the feeling I made the right choice based on my preferances. IMO, that "greener grass" that we audio nerds seek is often almost the same color green once we get to other side. So mark me satisfied for the moment.
Should you go this route, I can offer renderings and insight and whatever else a protracted build garners. Just ask.