Wow...a lot of generalities being thrown around here and more myth than fact. Let's start at the top...
B&W produces and offers so many speakers that it is impossible to take Judy's (or anyone's) sweeping statements seriously. I have not listened to each and every B&W speaker - I have seriously auditioned each speaker in the Nautilus 800 line and have concluded the N805 is the best of the lot (IMHO) especially when mated with a sub like the REL Strata III. Some of the qualites I didn't like are mentioned in this thread, but those qualites were not present in each speaker / system I auditioned. So I can't say the exact cause of the issue. But, given the transportabiliy of the N805, I can say that this speaker performed well enough for me in each application I tried to own it for over 5 years.
Referencing this one example of the B&W line, I can tell you that you do not need "gobs of power to adequately drive them." Actually, my 50 Watt Sixpacs drive them quite nicely (but, some would argue, 50 Watts is "gobs" of tube power). Better than many of the larger power amps I've owned / auditioned.
B&Ws do a lot of things well, and some things not so well. Will they work for you? How the hell will anyone here know? There are many other speakers in the 703's price range to choose from, and yes, you really need to audition what you're buying before wasting your time and money. I will agree with one thing Judy posted - don't buy on name. There is a good chance that if you blindly pick one of the brands menioned in the above post, you may be just (if not more) dissatisfied. Contrary to what some believe, synergy and context is everything.
Judy's theory about why there are so many B&W speakers for sale on Audiogon is incorrect as well (and is frequently cited by B&W bashers). B&W sells a lot of speakers, which creates a sizeable secondary market for those speakers. If the product was as awful as represented, the ask / sell price would be significantly less than what is typical (particularly here at a 'audiophile' marketplace) as the demand would be less by those with 'better' knowledge about the product. The market would be flooded by "the Bose of Hifi" and all secondary B&W sales would take place on eBay (to those ignorant about the virues of other 'better' brands).
Now, I'm not a B&W zealot. I just don't think one can characterize a speaker (nevertheless an entire line of speakers) so broadly - especially on a forum that debates the virtue of power cords, hardware "break in", and stranded vs. solid core cabling - and expect to be taken seriously. You may think Paradigm is wonderful. I may not. I like tubes. You may not. However, everyone is entitled to their opinion, and like I say around my house, "It's ok for you to be wrong."
That doesn't go over well at home, either.
