The one thing you can do, in all seriousness, to settle the debate about spending $1000 for a brand new set of irons is bring your current 6 or 7 iron and do a shootout between it vs one of those you desire. I went to a demo day armed with my current driver and fairway woods and my Eye 2 irons. I took the driver and hit it alongside three 10.5 deg R11 drivers (M flex, R flex and stiff flex); I hit the stiff driver dead straight with a neutral face but lost yardage. I set the M flex and R flex drivers to draw and didn't see any distance change vs my good ole 13* draw driver (I've hit that so-called "old geezer" driver over 250 yards on a few occasions and hit one 270 yards one time). Also didn't see any gains between my 2K7 Burner 7 wood vs a K15 of the same loft. Finally put my Eye 2 7 iron vs a G15 and there MIGHT have been a difference of 3-5 yards. You get a comfort zone with your irons and know the ins and outs of them and that is what makes it hard to switch.

I am not looking for game improvement irons. And I just don't want a shiny new set, I appreciate the comments

but I was hoping someone with a little more knowledge on things like groove life and also newer technology will respond.

I practice and play allot and I am starting to wear the sole down on my clubs and I am sure the grooves are wearing out also.

If someone with a more technical insight on club wear can respond that would be cool.

Again I do appreciate the feedback.

[/quote] I meant to say "4 degrees stronger (less) loft)". There are some irons that stand the test of time, like Apex II, Eye 2, and Titleist DCI 981. Also, I did a side by side comparison between DCI and Eye 2 irons and found a 3-5 yard difference (which was expected due to 2* stronger loft on the former); this is a difference of 20 years in "technology". In regards to fairway woods, there was a time when there were some on the market that had head sizes the same as that of an old-school driver. Very hard to hit on the ground (one of them was a so-called "sports store" club, i.e., Dunlop, Alien, et. al). The newer persimmon clubs (the only maker of them is Louisville Golf) have heads the same size as a 975F or a Warbird. Fortunately, Titleist has remained "sane" compared to some of the other vendors in regards to shaft lengths on drivers (basically 45"). Some are getting as long as 47" and, quite frankly, are very hard to hit. There was also a bust in driver "technology" in the '80s - the 52 inch shaft club; there were claims as to how they could improve distance but were just about impossible to hit. In my opinion, what necessitates club change is when you have a shaft flex change or when your clubs don't work like they used to. I went from stiff to regular in 2006.

If you get fit, you're buying by the club. Hence, you can mix and match AP2/CB/MB as well as buy a set of 6/7/8/9. The box stores may have 5-GW and 4-PW sets on the shelf. I only bought a 5I (5-PW) basically because the fitter felt I could hit it well enough. Otherwise would have just gotten 6-9. I've never liked a set PW, but the AP1 has worked better than others I've had (or I've made progress with my swing??). The price quoted was 6 x the club price.

wear and tear... if it is beat up time for a new one!

my time frame is 10 years, that's how long I've been using my 690CB's. Time for upgrade!

The 1st gen AP2's were/are, some amazing clubs. However, the new 712's are more forgiving, more consistent, have a better feel, a little more workable, etc.. Get a hold of your local Titleist rep and schedule a fitting. I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you brought your own AP2's. Trust me. You would LOVE the new 712 AP2's!

Brent, if you want technical advise you would need to give numbers (ie driver head speed and 6 iron head speed with launch angles and spin rates for both) , not having that info i still think you would benefit from new ap2's.  It would also help to have your handicap or some score info.  You should only buy the cb/mb combo if you are a low handicapper and shoot in the mid 70's consistently, the ap 2 712 has a much higher moi than your current model and will give you excellent feel and some work-ability and will not make the mis-hits as punishing, and at the end of the day you want to have fun and remember the good shots.  Hope this helps.