I agree with DrrDiamond. I listen to a lot of live classical and perform quite a bit as well. The B&W's do come close to what I hear in the concert hall. I also agree that many audiophiles are looking for something other than accuracy, whether they realize it or not. I have a friend who is neutral towards B&W. He probably has not been to a live concert in 30 years. But since he is happy with his choice, so who am I to differ. I like his choice as well, though not as live sounding to me. There are lots of great speaker brands out there. B&W are a safe bet because of the great resell value.
I actually prefer the 1990-98 B&W's over the current generation. (Original CDM-1, Preference 4,5 &6; and all the last generation Matrix 800 series.) I like the first-order crossovers. The newer crossovers work good with home theater setups, but sound a little shut in to me with classical two-channel.