Actually I had Wave cycling on my old Wersi Alpha (1985) for the choir voices (Although the quality of sound can’t match todays voices) and Wersi continued to use it up to about 1995.
However with the introduction of the Livestyle sound system in 1989 (Which had proper sampling and 18 bit D/A) the doo bah voices etc. were added controlled by velocity, with the sound quality still standing up well today. (Although I still like the way Roland have done it best)
I have never heard the Kurzweil voices, although I still think the Kurzweil would give the new Kronos a good run for its money.

Bill