The vast majority of traditional box speaker components are decades old. Woofers are usually paper or some type of composite and tweeters are often silk or aluminum dome. In recent years, diamond and beryllium tweeters have come in the scene, as well as ceramic-come woofers, but there is no consensus that these modern materials sound better than the paper woofers or silk tweeter. Truth be told, it seems that the older materials are often preferred from a sonic perspective. I believe the $600k Wilson speaker uses a silk-dome tweeter. Speaker materials are but one part of speaker design, and from what I can see, a relatively small part, assuming quality drivers are used. So the short answer to your question is - yes there are some new materials being employed and no, there is nothing being made that audiophiles can’t live without.
Buying used vs new speakers from a technology perspective
Do you believe a speaker's components like drivers and crossovers can become "outdated" for lack of a better word? For instance say someone is selling a pair of speakers that cost $10k in 2008 for $5k now. Comparing that speaker to a modern day $5k new speaker only looking at driver design/drivers, cabinet construction, crossover components/layout and other materials what kind of technology gap are we looking at?
Have there been technologies or designs that have come out in the past few years that you couldn't live without after hearing?