Given the ineptitude shown by salespeople at our local BB its entirely likely the tweeters in the speakers you were auditioning were fried. I can't say of course that this is a universal problem with certainty, but I'd say the odds are likely. Locally, they are completely clueless.
B&W 705s3 vs Kef Meta R3
I was at Magnolia the other day and out of curiosity, I asked the salesman to play these 2 speakers back to back. I really couldn't believe how muffled the Metas were compared to the Bowers. I then compared other bigger models of each and heard the same sound signature. What was the problem here? I've owned a ton of different speakers and never heard quite a contrast. I should add that I am biased towards Kef.
Has anyone else out there compared these 2 lines in a real world setting?