Is the big sound from the big names?

Lately more and more I have been hearing bad things about a lot of the biggest companies in the audio industry. For instance B&W speakers just do not live up to their reputation because their crossover network is (very obviously if a knowledgeable person were to look at it) poorly designed. Many companies find a design that will work for them and never change in design or materials to follow the trends of new and available technology. Many companies with competent engineers will from what I hear from a few in the industry only design on paper with no listening tests or comparisons to fine tune the sound. Does anyone have any information on this, or information on the companies who really do the job right?

Thank you
Eric Baer