Equipment does not match

Dereck, Sorry to have left the conversation for a while but it's been a busy weekend. I think the marble floors and the close wall placement are a big piece of the puzzle. I agree with Mapman and Al - you need a rug at the floor reflection point. You didn't mention what you're unhappy with sound-wise but I'd be willing to bet that you're getting a lot of reflected sound. This is going to create a very lumpy in-room frequency response and a lot of sounds arriving at different times from different directions. Some reflected sound is necessary to provide a sense of space but too much is not a good thing. Another thought - are your speakers pointing straight ahead? A little toe-in toward the listening position will change those sidewall first reflection points (although it sounds like that may not be a problem with the left speaker). Dick

oscoeiii/Almarg/Dick

Thanks i will move the speakers around over the weekend and let you guys know.
With regards to Dicks question what sound did i envision, i have a pair of B&W XT8s that i use as a backup so with the same setup i get a good crisp sound , when i purchased the B25s i expected the results to be infinitely better (more natural sound with a good deep base and clear treble)
However as many of you have pointed out i have not optimized the placement of the B25s so hopefully with some experimentation should get there.
The 8ohms rotel power amp paired with the 4ohms B25s still bothers me but will get to that in the next stage thanks all!!

Dereck, Don't worry too much about the amp. From the Stereophile review:

"Fig.8 shows that the RB 1080 clips quite suddenly. However, this is at very high power levels. Using the conventional 1% THD definition of clipping, the Rotel puts out 291W into 8 ohms with one channel driven (24.6dBW), 558W into 4 ohms (24dBW), and even 800W into 2 ohms (23dBW)! Considering its modest price, this is one powerhouse of an amplifier. But, as Rotel recommends in the handbook, the RB 1080 is best used with speakers whose impedances don't drop much below 2 ohms.—John Atkinson"

Your amp has PLENTY of power for those speakers (especially in that lively room you have!). Earlier comments about the amp refer more to the overall refinement and not its ability to power you speakers. I truly believe that most of your problem lies in the room and speaker positioning. Best of luck and let us know how it goes. Dick

Thanks Dick will let you know how the experimentation with the placement of speakers goes!!