JM Labs original utopia speakers

Am I nuts, but back around 1998-2002 I always felt the original JMLabs Utopias were awesome (I heard the plain Utopias and the Mezzos several times at dealers and the Stereophile NYC shows).
Since then, when I heard the Be models and forward, something was always off, like too much forward bass or some piercing high frequencies or a bit of metallic sound, reminding me a bit of Wilson or B&W. Does anyone else have this impression?

You have good ears.Recently read somewhere that measurements show bass and highs are amplified +6db

I still own a pair of the original Utopias. Some complained that the tweeter could be a little bright. Wrong. The tweeter is extremely transparent and revealing of inferior sources, cabling, etc. If anything in your system is bright, the tweeter will tell you so in no uncertain terms.

I heard the follow-up BE model and did not like the beryllium tweeter at all. It had a rising HF characteristic around 10k, then dropped like a stone afterwards. No thanks.

It had a rising HF characteristic around 10k, then dropped like a stone afterwards

and THAT is exactly what it is, either you are still yound (~30) or have great ears!

I’m still using the original Mini Utopias but listened to the line quite a bit since my friend was a dealer. I consider the originals to be great bargains at the current prices I see them being offered. You can’t outclass these with upstream component. They will reward you for using the best and likely be a disappointment if you don’t match them carefully - IMO.