I'm a big FFV fan and I think it just got eclipsed by FFIV , FFVI , and FFVII.
I, however, prefer FFV over FFIV, and I even prefer the plot and soundtrack of FFV over those of FFIV.
As for the characters, I felt that they were less annoyingly pigeonholed in part because you could change their character classes, and I guess they had more basic characterization to reflect this. So, you never had, say, Lenna the princess who sucks at fighting but is stuck with being an animal-mancer and white mage or something.
As for the plot, it was much more straightforward and well-organized and compact than FFIV's, which I felt tried to do too much and had a few crazy plot twists too many, so it felt like a rough attempt at coming up with an interesting fantasy story.
As for the soundtrack, I...well, I prefer FFV's over FFIV and even after spending several hours playing both games, something about FFV's score resonates with me more.