I attended a speaker demo in the local hifi shop, where the listeners were asked to compare these B&W's and a set of Dali Oberon 1's.
After which we could fill out a questionaire as to which speaker we preferred.
The comparison was with many different music types, and at various listening levels. They even took requests
While not exactly scientific in nature, we did compare the speakers with the same music, driven by the same amp, while attempting to hit the same volume on each.
At this event I found the B&W's to be revealing, but also "sharp", and a little bit "thin" to their sound.
The Dali's were also revealing, but much more pleasant with more "body". Much more balanced, I thought.
The event was actually quite entertaining, and there was a lot of discussion about music and music genres.
A few days later I visited the shop to learn the results of the questionaires. To my surprise about 30% of the listeners liked the B&W's the most.
The Dali's won by a large %, but I was very surprised that so many preferred the B&W's. I did not like these B&W's very much.
Just goes to show that tastes are really very different