Dave, I understand what you are saying, but I think the issue was different. The glues and the wood of those original Bionors is no longer available. They are gone. I wanted my new rack to look like a walnut chest in the same room. The furniture maker said there was no way he could get the same wood. It no longer exists. The materials are now different so the resulting sound is different. Those speakers were made by someone who understood how to make good sounding speakers. Change anything about them and they will sound different. Different does not mean better. David told me that the reproduction Vitavoxs do not sound as good as the specific series I bought. The wood is different, the drivers are made by other people, the wiring is different. They may look similar, but they are different speakers that don't sound the same. I don't know as I have not heard them, but I take David at his word on this one.
A steel body panel for an old Ferrari can likely be reproduced by a skilled metal worker. We see this all the time in car restoration. The paint will be different but it should function the same, and it should convince people. Folks still pay more for the original. David and a skilled carpenter tried to reproduce his speaker cabinets. They likely looked similar but they sounded different. That is the key.
My point is more about producing a better product with "better" materials. Could those Bionors be built with a "better" material and sound better? I think that is what the advocates for the advanced technology are arguing. I understand that it is a full system and not just the cabinet materials, but if dead, inert cabinets are an advancement and better, then it should be better once adjustments are made for the rest of the speaker. People can ruin vintage speakers by trying to reinforce their wooden cabinets, even refinishing them or replacing the wiring.
Do the current large horn speakers like the Magico Ultimate III and other plastic and metal large horn systems with new material drivers and advanced crossovers and inert cabinets sound better than those Bionors? Reading these pages one would assume, of course they do. I wonder though. How big are the advancements in sound quality at all levels, here the top level, being made because of advanced technology?