The KJV is beautiful in its language and definitely makes for good reading as literature. I prefer the RSV 2nd Catholic Edition for daily reading and research (NOT the NRSV, which has "inclusive" language). If you want to get down in the weeds for specifics of translation issues, the original language is a must since a lot of the words have multiple meanings in English. "λόγος", for instance is translated as "Word", but has a much deeper meaning philosophically and theologically, and no English word comes close. Another good example is the NIV translating "παραδόσεις" as "teaching" when the text presents it in a positive light and "tradition" when the text presents it in a negative light, when the original word actually means both. The NIV is essentially translating the text to fit their interpretation that Tradition is bad.