Auditioned Wilson Sabrina X vs B&W 803D4 and Shocked

I had the exact same experience! I was basically there to make the comparison and leave with the Wilson's, but ruled them out and moved on to compare the 803d4 to other speakers before getting them. I listened through Ayre equipment and tried a Mac source before switching to all Ayre. We changed speaker cables and interconnects, moved the listening chair, etc. All of these changes modified the wilson sound a bit more than the 803d4s, but in all variations my ears found the 803d4 to be much more realistic and true to the music. I think the Wilsons were great at what they did, but it was not the sound (in that room with that equipment) that I look for. Bands I have seen regularly sounded very precise but the singer sounded like someone with a slightly higher, drier voice doing an impression of them. Acoustic guitars sounded slightly tuned up and lost their earthiness, as if the air got taken out of the guitar body- but once again very precise and dynamic. Cymbals had a marvelous shimmer but the strike of the cymbal was presented as another instrument further back in the soundstage... i spent much of the time with the Wilsons following every instrument and sound throughout the room, but being distracted by guessing why each of them did not sound quite "right" to me. Perhaps a sub would have helped, but not in my room or budget. Until I saw your post I was thinking that it might have all been in my head, or a hearing issue. Regardless, I have been thrilled with my ultimate purchase, even in my non-ideal listening  room.

I am lucky to live in a city with several brick and mortar hifi stores so am able to audition speakers in person. When I was shopping for new speakers a few years ago, I found that the disconnect between what many reviewers liked and what I thought sounded musical was considerable. I had a list of what I wanted to hear in hand up to, a certain price level ($!0,000)

I found many speakers played well above their price level and many below. I suggest you keep an open mind and audition all you can .

Feel free to disagree, but you should be able to get good bass with a budget of $25,000 to spend on your primary speakers unless you have a huge room and/or you are looking for big bass effects for a home theatre. I have owned many speakers with multiple 5-7 inch drivers in a tower configuration as has been so popular over the last several decades. They do a good job of getting bass out of a small footprint, they integrate well into a room and usually have good WAF but they won’t give you the same experience as speakers with a bigger diameter woofers

Trust your ears!  Wilson makes great speakers and I don't many of their models to other brands (I do think the new Watt Puppys are incredible but they are also almost $40k).

The amplification does have an impact on the sound - if you don't own Mc I wouldn't use Mc amplification as a proxy.  I've owned Mcs and they were very enjoyable to me - there is a house sound and I think that house sound matches B&W very well.  

I agree that the amps probably helped, however, I listened to a pair of B&W bookshelf's this weekend and was impressed.  Still voiced a bit higher than I prefer, but nothing annoying or wrong.  Clear with an engaging mid-range.  

If you want British done well, you could do worse than hop across the county border from Sussex to Kent, to the old Kent Engineering and Foundry where KEF speakers are designed.  If you are technical, read the 40-page White Paper on the Reference Series.  This is science in practice.

B&W are great at finishing cabinets, but personally I have never heard B&W speakers I really like, though I have yet to hear the Nautilus!