Am I the only one who thinks B&W is mid-fi?

Poloman, I agree 100%. I've still been thinking about this thread as I have N804.
Mikez is probably hearing mid-fid electronics which B&W faithfully reproduce.

Aball, what was you pre / amp / and CDP?
So what's better than N803 Bigkidz? I'm still searching. Only ATC so far. But if you're into tubes the new Coincident Victory really kicks butt. Or maybe Von Schweikert DB100 (haven't heard them)

Twl, so what is better than B&W? I agreed about the "blanket over the speaker veiling". What speakers can you recommend that are clearer but still play music, not just notes?
I'm always searching, thanks for the help.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll put them on my list.

Subaruguru what amp/CDP/cable combo? Many comments about B&W being bright but that can have a lot to do with other components, room, or music.
Triangles aren't bright? Paradigms aren't bright? Von Schweikerts aren't bright? Thiels aren't bright?
I found aiming the speakers so they cross behind my head is better.

Spluta, that was my point about B&W revealing the source. I went right from my listening room (N804 / Musical Fidelity) to the dealer who had N802 and McIntosh. McIntosh threw a big veil over the sound. Some people like this.
Aball, Krell could be tiring. I heard Classe on Revels F30 then deasler switched to Musical Fidelity / M20. Lost a lot of high frequency energy. Maybe that is better.
Paradigm is great for the money.

Tvad, I think one eventually gets to the point in audio where happiness has more to do with what's going on inside your head than outside.

After talking with other people, here's a ththought about Nautilus. First I get don't measure a spike at 80 and 10,000 hz as Mikez says. And the BBC dip at the presence region is measured anechoic and may make actual in-room response more flat. In any event, compared to Merlin VSM, instruments and vocals aren't as actile like they are right in room. So I don't know if the frequency response is the reason.
But B&W runs the midrange into breakup because of the high crossover frequency. As shown at the B&W site, the driver produces a broad band type of pink noise at breakup which may raise the noise floor of the speaker.
I thought it had to do with the compliance of Kevlar vs metal making the fuzzy sound. But it may be the breakup mode instead. So the weave of the driver reduces harmonic distortion to 1% or less but converts the distortion into "pink noise".
I was disappointed to hear PSB Image 4T's sound clearer than my B&W. Clearer but not as clean. Meaning there was more distortion. So maybe it's a tradeoff. Thiels are clear but Stereophile, for example, always seems to find some fault. Maybe poor design or maybe the clarity is a double edged sword.
I realize many people find B&W bright. This may be a setup thing. They are bright compared to Dynaudio, Silverline, and Reynaud. For the record, I have never had anyone ever complaint my Nautilus is bright. On good recordings, there are sort of bland. But they make poor recordings listenable and still invite me to listen into the music which is important to me. Auditioning other speakers dealers have complained about my bad recordings but they actually sound okay on B&W. But maybe the "mid-fi" sound could also be because of their lack of razor sharp clarity and/or distortion.
But I find they are less bright than other studio monitors, other than ATC, Alesis, and KRK. Talking with a recording engineer, he told me he'd rather have a bright speaker and eq. it down than try to brighten up a dark speaker. So for real studio monitors brightness is a better alternative.