Jcaudio,
I can understand not wanting to be severely limited in choice of speakers. There are very few high efficiency speakers that I really like myself.
However, unless someone has a really big room, plays at really high volume, and/or this bass response/control is the be-all-and-end-all of high quality sound, most speakers really don't need to be fed by 100 watts. If that kind of power is really "needed," within reasonable budget constraints, good solid state might actually be the choice; delivering power is the forte of solid state. A lot of high powered tube amps sound quite brittle and unnatural to me; often far more "solid state" than an equivalently priced solid state alternative.
If something around 50 watts or so would work for you, perhaps you could find a SET amp that uses high-powered triode tubes like the 811 or 845. A friend had a Wyetech amp with 811 tubes that sounded pretty good.
Still, while I have limited experience with the Ayon, it delivered the goods and is probably a good bet.