I completely disagree with you here. I do not believe today's scholars are better than those who translated the KJB. The men who translated the KJB were some of the most knowledgeable men concerning the ancient languages ever assembled.
I'm not saying that the Scholars are better than those of the KJV, I'm saying that they have much better resources.
These were just some of the men who translated the KJB. I seriously doubt you could find a man on earth who could compare to just these three men in ability.
Modern man loves to pride himself as being more intelligent than men of the past, yet we still cannot understand how the Egyptians built the pyramids or mummified people.
So, this idea that somehow men are more intelligent or skilled than men of the past is absurd.
Again, not saying we are more intelligent as far as our skills, but we do have better research today. We have what they knew plus new stuff. (you notice we have computers today but didn't before. It wasn't because we are necessarily smarter, but keep advancing on what we know)
And concerning Wescott and Hort's methods, this is the greatest problem with MVs. They relied on Dynamic Equivilence which means a person can interpret scripture to mean anything they wish it to mean. The translator acts as a teacher, who doesn't actually translate, but interprets the scripture not as to what it says, but how HE understands it. The KJB was translated using Formal Equivilence, which means they translated the scriptures as to what they directly said, and left the interpretation up to the reader.
So, with Dynamic Equivilence, the translation necessarily is written according to the author's bias or theology. It is unavoidable. With Formal Equivilence there is no bias of the translator included.
I'm not familure with Wescott and Horts English translation, but the formal vs dynamic has nothing to do with textual criticism. And, not all modern versions are a dymanic translation. The NIV is more dynamic, but the NASB is more formal than the KJV. The ESV is essentially litteral like the KJV is. All translations use dynamic equivalence in some places in their translation. (well, except maybe youngs literal translation). Even in the dynamic, you are translating the work, but as you said, you are also interpreting. There is some level of interpretation that must happen in translating to be sure you don't change the meaning. You cannot always translate something literally. Especially phrases like idioms.
Now for me, I'm with you on wanting a more formal translation. That's why I like the NASB and the ESV and the KJV. They are more formal than the NIV. Just don't think that the KJV is the only formal translation and also don't think that the KJV is always formal.
Example: The KJV has this for Psalm 23:6
KJV: I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
NIV: I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever
Now, in Hebrew, there is no "forever" there. The word is "to length of days" So, in English translations, we give the dynamic equivalence of "to length of days" as "forever.
Now, look in Proverbs 3:2
For length of days and long life and peace shall they add to thee. This time, they keep the length of days literally here and give the formal equivalence. This is because the meaning is the same. In the Psalm 23 passage, the meaning would be different in English if we went literally there.