First off, if RGA really does listen at the volume he says he does for 8 hours straight very often, perhaps he could be developing a hearing impairment, which would make his recommendations a bit suss anyway.

Seriously though, his dislike of B&W is well known, and should be taken with a grain of salt. Each person hears and experiences music differently.

I am also a classical music lover, and when I went hunting for speakers, I specifically looked for those which sound good with classical. Classical music is much more demanding on speakers than rock. When I first became interested in this hobby more years ago than I care to remember, I was told I would have to search for good quality speakers, whilst any old rubbish would do for rock. Rock tends to be loud, with little or no dynamic range. A full orchestra can be almost silent in a quiet passage and suddenly roar up to ceiling rattling levels. A speaker has to handle this dynamic range, as well as all the other subtleties demanded of it by all the different instruments and singers.

I won't bore you by listing all the speakers I listened to over a span of several years (and that included SF) but I finally settled on the B&W 703. The clincher? I could actually hear, very clearly, the words which were being sung in opera and songs. Other speakers, in comparison, sounded, to me at least, as if they were stuffed with cotton wool, and were so muffled I had to strain to hear the words. I bought my set around November 2004 so I have been with them long enough to get a good feel for them, and I am happy with my choice. I know there are better speakes out there, but there is only so much time for looking in this life, and only a certain amount of money. Once you make a choice, don't double guess yourself, and begin enjoying what you have.

Word of warning - if you get the B&Ws, you will also need a good amplifier to get the best out of them. Also, don't even try to listen closely to them for two or three weeks. Mine sounded so hard and harsh at first that I thought I had made a mistake, but after a few weeks of use at varying volumes, they mellowed out. Also, they do not like being too near the back wall (too much bass boom) - give them room to breathe - about 2 feet or so.