Digital BW, The Print

George - I think it is quite possible to get great looking b&w prints from
digital files on the printers you mentioned if you go through some work up
front to maximize the likelihood of quality.

I use a lab near me that has Light Jet and Pictrography printers.  I have
gotten profiles from them for the different papers (Kodak or Fuji, luster or
glossy) they use on the machines, as well as some test prints from each
machine of the equivalent of step wedges with percentages marked.  I also
use the same software and hardware that they do to calibrate my monitor.

When you see the output of the test files, you can get a sense of the range
of the printers (specifically how much detail they can hold near the dark
and light end of the scales) and edit your files appropriately.