What speakers to get? Focal or B&W

I have a Pioneer Elite a/v reciver 130W /channel

Which ever of the speakers you choose, change you amplification fairly soon. You can't appreciate that quality of speaker to its best with a big box receiver.

Jamesw20 is probably right that you most likely would not get the most musically from either pair of speakers with an A/V receiver.

I've heard the Focal profile 918 with a $2500 Krell integrated at a local Tweeter store + the sound was fantastic, very open, lifelike, detailed, transparent and dynamic with a huge sound stage. For a while, I was seriously considering picking up a pair.

I'm almost always underwhelmed by B&Ws when I hear them. They tend to sound lifeless and stiff in the low end to me. I suspect they require very high end amplification in order to sound equally good.

I've owned several pair of b&w's and find the treble to be thin. Again, I think proper amp matching would help.

05-20-08: Mapman
I've found the B&Ws are very British....more laid back and refined with what I've found to be a very "warm" sound.

05-20-08: Jamesw20
I've owned several pair of b&w's and find the treble to be thin.

That just shows how subjective this matter will be(in everything audio) when it comes to giving thoughts on how a particular component would sound. I fall into Mapman's category although I am pretty sure a lot of folks would also agree with Jamesw20 on the thin treble of the B&W's, which generally implies "brightness" as opposed to a warm sound.