I am finishing college in December and in doing so I am looking to get my own place and nothing says welcome than some upgrades to the systems, granted I am budget minded. I spent sometime listening to the B&W CM1 and enjoyed them, however their are some who say that the 684 are just as good. I currently have the Boston Acoutic CR75 which did well in there day. Is one of the B&W a more lateral move than the other? Which will take me the farthest interms of growth potential upgrading source etc. I am planning on acquiring a new(used) integrated amp, or amp(using my HK445 as the pre). Looking into Rotel as that is what I heard the CM1 on. Any insight would be apprechiated. I do have a Boston PV500 sub. Not sure if I want to use it in the new system though.
The vitals: Appartment:small room Music: rock, acoustic, some classical
The B&W's are quite popular. Their sound is quite sellable, which is good and bad. If you buy the B&W's, you'll probably not have much trouble selling them in a few years. And you'll probably enjoy them during that time.
IMO you can do better with a less mass market line but you'll have to do some listening to decide for yourself. Read a bit in this forum to find recommended speakers in a price range similar to the B&W's. If you can't or don't care to audition speakers, the B&W's are a safe bet for most people. Do some research before you decide which B&W to buy. Many of their speakers have very demanding impedance and phase angle swings which will make even a high current amp like the HK less than happy. IMO stay wih a speaker everyone acknowledges is "easy to drive" which amounts to more than just a high sensitivity sepc. Even if your amp doesn't have problems with a B&W, when you sell them you don't want the buyer to be disappointed because their amp can't handle the load.