Richard, you definitely seem to be a candidate for SET's. As I said earlier, I only had the Clari-t for a week or so to demo, I don't know what long term would reveal, but I liked what I heard and will probably buy the Lotus in the future. It would be fun to satisfy the different tastes and moods. For now the Fi keeps me happy. It was recommeded to me and I chose it because of it's direct coupling. You hear more of the tube and less of the circuit. I like Don Garber's thinking alot. Also Ron Welborne. I recently got his DRD300b which is also a fairlly direct design. So between the 45, 2a3 and 300b tubes both NOS and Meshplates, I'm having a ball. Good luck and let me know what you decide on and what you hear.