What speakers to get? Focal or B&W

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.

With that amplification you shouldn't get anything more revealing than a B&W 804S

If you're looking at Focals, take a look at the Twin 6 BE's. I have a pair in my recording studio and brought them in to my living room to try them with my stereo. They sound incredible and are active to boot so you would save $$$ on amplification.

I used to own B&W Nautilus 804, and currently own Focal Electra 1037BE. B&W's are pretty revealing. B&W's sounded thin when the front end sounds thin. With decent front end and amplification the midrange is lush and full. If you are using a receiver to power B&W's, I can tell you right off the bat that you will probably find the treble rather thin and harsh. I don't know about the Profile's, but Electra's have all the good virtues of B&W's, but they are more balanced, and have fantastic treble that is airy and free of glare or harshness.

My experience is otherwise (ignoring your curious attempt to compare last gen B&W to current gen Focal in completely different price ranges); in my experience the Electra 1037Be is completely unbalanced - bass is obviously outclassed by the superb midrange and tweeter. In essence, the Electra outperforms the B&W 803D from the midrange on up but as a whole the B&W 803D is the better speaker. Now, when you talk about Alto Utopia on up it's a whole different ballgame (which probably explains why I own the Altos :) ).

In any case, he wasn't discussing the 1037Be or anything else in that price range.