Years ago I sold Levinson, Rotel, B&W, Magnepan, Thiel, and other brands back in 87-89. B&W's are not bright by any stretch. Thiels to me back then were. I agree with the previous post, try a different preamp. Rotel is good, but not in the same category as your B&W's. B&W's are also fairly power hungry as I recall.
Back then, when I sold a complete system, I tried to keep all components within 10-20% in cost relative to one another. Think of the 'weak link in a chain school of thought'
Don't know much about the cd player you have. Hope that helps.