One "generalization" about asian cultures in general (esp Japanese & Korean) is that they are very prone to herd behavior, to deifying humans, and to following a trend almost fanatically. I suspect some folk figured out that top of the line vintage speakers sound better than medium and low priced modern speakers (though probably not as good as top of the line new speakers) and bought a few with their tube amps. This started a maniacal trend. To read some "zen" philosophy into this would be a mistake in my opinion. I suspect the "Japanese masters" who meditate before building their tube amps (filled with vintage western tubes i might add) are just making a sales pitch. Unfortunately, the audiophile community is also very prone to herd behavior (enthusiasts by nature are, i thnk).

Having said that, i have to admit that i love my SET amps, and my vintage american drivers....:-)

And yes i do drive my Klipschorns with SETs.
However, in all fairness, i have never owned a high end setup by modern standards. I have heard one or two that didn't seem to sound that much better than mine, but that was just my bias probably...one always loves what one builds, right?

well off to designing a passive preamp for my latest SET...
-akhilesh