How long untill I can really Flog them Hard

Ah okay, i was just chiming in on your comment:

"...I like to get them to that level where the speakers sound full, bass is kind of empty until they get around 200-250 RMS behind them. about 75% bass driver excursion..."

On mid/treble, if you need to crank to 'liven' it up...i tend to think of source first then perhaps pre or cables. The reason is because generally treble/mid does not pull a lot of juice from the amp...so if you are cranking it to really feel it...it might be that your ear does not feel it is getting a balanced delivery of the spectrum at lower levels...? A guess?

Im no expert by any stretch but the only was i can size this up is to say that it seems the bass slightly overpowers the mid and treb until there is more volume. i have a hard surfaced room so i dont think its absorption. i dont have bass droning in corners etc to amplify bass. its more of an opinion i suppose.

hmmm...interesting...to be fair, some speakers do 'come alive' with more juice. It would not surprise me if yours were one of those...lucky you have a fair amount to spare. Enjoy!

appreciate the opinions Im getting from people here. I previously tried to steer clear of the forums here as i didn't want my opinion before purchasing to be clouded by someone else who sounded very convincing.
and to be very honest i live in a small town and i have never ever heard a pair of B&W 8 series of any generation before the ones i bought turned up on my doorstep.

Ellrotts, that number of big B&Ws a year is a respectable number given the price of those models. It should ensure in the very least a biggger pair or 2 than what one customarily might encounter. There are several other brands that you may want to investgate that are even native to your shores.