The new one is sealed so it will sound tighter due to less distortion - and no port chuffing. I believe it reaches a bit lower too. The new ones don't have a brick wall filter above the cross-over frequency so they integrate better with the rest of the speakers. Yours might not have a brick wall filter either. I can't remember when Axiom changed this aspect of the response curve. As to whether or not you will hear a difference, it depends on how discerning a listener you are.