Upgrade Fronts or Sub

[Allegiance]

I have a bit of an upgrade choice on my hands.
My current system is:

B&W 601 S2 (Fronts)
B&W HTM62 (Centre)
Energy EPS-12V (Sub)

I have a choice of upgrading the Sub, or upgrading to something in the price range of the 684's. The subwoofer is quite old and is quite boomy.

Are the 684's a big jump from the 601's? I am not really too sure in the way of upgrading the subwoofer in terms of other models to look at.

System is powered using a Denon AVR-2808.

Thanks for your help!

[Allegiance]

EDIT:

Sorry I just wanted to add one more thing to this thread. I know this is a big question but I would like to get your opinions on the differences between the 685 and 684.

Would the 685 be a worthy upgrade over the 601? The reason why I am asking is because the 684 is double the price of the 685, and I could use this extra cash to squeeze in a ASW608 (or something similar) with the 685's.

And one last question, how much of a jump would it be from 685/684 to 705's?

[mjb]

My personal choice would be to upgrade the fronts, which would benefit movies and music, and not just the LFE channel - but I'm usually a lonely voice when it comes to opinions, so I expect the next 30 posts will recommend you upgrade your subwoofer

[htsteve]

allegiance,

I'm with mjb. The mains are the anchor to your system. So the 684 has very nice appeal, including better bass reasponse.

I had 705's. Theses are definitely for refined than 600 series bookshelf speakers. Bass is pretty nice for a bookshelf (but doesn't matvh a tower).

I like you second post here. The 685's plus a sub would be an upgrade to your mains (the 685's are larger, more bass, and they are two generations more refined that the 601S2's) and of course the bass would be much improved. Plus having 600 series up front plus an ASW608 will match better than 705's with the old sub (I'm making an assumption that 705's mean no sub upgrade).


Hope this helps.

[Briz vegas]

unless he gets the 705 second hand for the price of the 685, then he could get both. I would go for as big a jump as you can for the front speakers. You should still be able to audition the 705 and 685 in the shops to see if you have a preference

[Allegiance]

Hi Guys,

One last question with the sub.

Here is the link to the EPS-12:

http://www.energy-speakers.com/images/download/471.aspx

It uses a 110 watt RMS mosfet amp with a 12inch driver, how does this compare to the ASW608 with a 8inch driver and 200W class D amp?