B&W 700 series or Rocket RS850

Since you like B&W after auditioning, I'd stick with them.

I agree, it's always better to go with what your ears have told you after auditioning.
If you've found you prefer them after having heard all those others, why roll the dice?
Of course, I'm a B&W dealer , but seriously, this advice applies to ALL speakers, AUDITION, AUDITION, AUDITION, and trust what your ears tell you.

Others such as myself may be in a similar situation. I currently have 603s for mains, LCR600 for center, 602s3's for rears and find multi-channel in movies and games to be fine, but the 603s just do not seem to very dynamic for stereo tracks - lacking 'something' in the mids. Mine are currently powered with Marantz SR8001. I have heard the RS1000's + ERT, RSC200 + ERT, and RS250's in an owner's room. I listened to the 1000's with the subs turned off (more comparable to RS850) with some good stereo tracks and although there was a noticeable improvement over the 603s, it was not a huge improvement. Of course his room setup and the amplifier (Emotiva) probably had a larger impact during my listening experience, so it was difficult to compare. Just remembering how many drivers there are on the 850/1000 I'd say you may want a dedicated amplifier, but I would worry about that after the speakers are in the room. The sale price the Rockets are at now compared to the price of the 603's is justifiable for an upgrade, but I would not pay much more.

I hope that helps. Honestly, the best advice is your ears. I found a very nice owner to demo their rockets to me by going to a forum that is directly associated with Rocket speakers and asking around.

Just out of curiosity: What do you not like about the 600 series? What are you looking for in the Rockets that is currently missing in your setup?

A seperate amp on those speakers would give them a lot more dynamics and would likewise do so for the ones he currently owns. If you want better dynamics, either increase power of amps, or efficiancy of speakers. If you've heard them alond side of one another and-or on the same gear, then you would know if one is worth more to you than the other , not by looking at "apparent" savings.

Try to listen to the rockets since you are obviously curious. I've never heard them, but would not be too concerned about what the drivers are made of - more important is how they sound.

You forgot a couple of options.
Keep old 602 for lesser room, try the rockets and if you like them keep them, if not buy 705 for main room.
Or, trade the 602 for 705. Try the rockets, if you like them put them in either primary or secondary room - if you don't like them return them and buy more b&w.

You've got lots of options. I guess the first thing to decide is do you want to keep the 602 or trade them in. Only you can decide this.

Something interesting to note is that a pair of B&W bookshelf speakers partook in a blind bookshelf speaker shootout held by Craig(sub) at his home. The results may surprise you; its good read:
http://www.affordableaudio.org/aa2007-10.pdf

Then you have to go listen. I bought B7W 703 for two channel. I'm not sure how they'd work for 5.1 since there really is no proper center match. But I like them for 2 channel - I would certainly not describe them as being warm.

There are lots of options out there. It is worth spending time listening if you are particular. Think about how many hours you will be listening to (and hopefully enjoying these speakers), it is worth a little work and time up front during the selection process IMO.

Then I think I'd avoid ID as you could end up spending thousands in shipping figuring out which is right for you. With B&M you at least can go and listen and make your determination re bringing them home prior to spending any dough (other than gas and time).

^ or he could find a local owner of ID and audition at his/her home.

If you are that picky (as most of us are), auditioning is a must. But no worries; it is and should be a very fun experience.

Good luck!

Keep in mind that after the test, Craig surprisingly found the 805 seemed to show considerable improvement with "better" amplification - more so than the other speakers in the shootout for some reason.

^ Yup yup, very true.

Blind comparisons are always good, but best done personally, so you can trust the conclusions, especially as they pertain to you.

Rockets are made by the same guy that imported the Swans. He did not make the Swans.

Just to add my 2 cents, it sounds like you are relegating the good folks at AV123 (the rockets designer and manufacturer) to just being importers, so lets clarify a few things, In that shootout they also highly regarded the AV123 x series which is the budget line from AV123, Also one of the designers of the Rocket 850 is Danny Ritchie of GR Research and I dont think he has to take a back seat to anyone in the design world.

I am also deciding which way to go with those speakers, the 850's or B&W

Gentlemen, I have created a thread on this forum (found here) with the goal to find the "perfect" speaker for my ears. I will be acquiring the Rocket 850 sigs from a friend in two weeks and will be writing a review of them after I have spent some time with them. There is a local shop near where I live that carries the new B&W 68X series speakers as well as the 700, 800 and 600 series, not to mention all of the Paradigm stuff. I just visited the shop yesterday and auditioned a pair of Paradigm Studio 100's, which are amazing speakers for the price. I actually preferred them to the 703's. Anyway, if you like I could return in the next week or two and audition the 68X series for those who are interested. I am not a big fan of B&W to be honest, but I can at least post some impressions since I have never heard the 68X series. Of course, they would be my impressions and opinions, but I can listen to the Paradigms, and both models of B&W's in the same room (which is treated) and give my opinion as to the winner. I can then compare that to the Rocket 850's that I will be acquiring. It won't be apples to apples because I will be listening in two different rooms, but it may help.

Anyway, just an idea. Good luck with your search(es).

P.S. Craigsub is planning a floor standing speaker shootout under blind and level matched conditions. You can find his thread here (go to the end to read about his shootout). He is asking that we post our recommendations, adhering to his requirements, and he will consider some models, order them and use them in the comparison. Head over there if interested.

The studio 100 and 703 were my final choices. At msrp the 100 is a better deal. It had a slight edge in the bass. The 703 was better in the midrange. Both are good speakers. I ended up with the 703 - they just did acoustic instruments (including voice) more realistically IMO. It was a close call. The 703 also had an edge in appearance. Again, IMO. At the time I was willing to pay a little more for wood veneer, and clearer midrange. Didn't get a chance to listen to the Rockets. I don't regret my decision.

Of course we are interested in your opinion when you've decided.

p.s. I was only interested in two channel sound when I bought these. As near as I can tell
there is not good center channel match for the 703 - a pity.

HTM61 works great with them, I have listened to the combo at work and they do great together despite the HTM61 having an improved tweeter and a crossover design closer to the 800 series than the 700's, I can only guess it's the FST mids that makes them work so well together.