I wouldn't change the driver. The speakers are voiced with these tweeters for overall balance and realistic timbre, which you might distroy.
Careful selection of mods should not decrease the resale value of the speakers. I've gotten more for ones I've sold modified than I would if they weren't...and justifiably, as they sounded better!
I'd suggest some crossover mods and internal speaker rewiring, as did a couple of people here. Paradigm References with their hard domes tend to be a little intense with some systems. There's only cheap vinyl insulated zip-cord inside those speakers. I've redone a couple pairs of them with DH Labs wire internally, and feel it was a very nice complement, but you can also go with something a little mellower. The DH Labs wire made them much more open and transparent, though extended the highs significantly over the standard zip-cord. This made it a little brighter, as the zip cord was killing some response, but it's also nice and smooth. A little trim with resistors as mentioned below might do in balance, as the speakers were voiced and crossovers designed with the zip-cord in them. I found the Kimber stuff to be too zippy and tipped up, and aggrevated the balance.
Changing the caps can do wonders. The caps Audiopath mentioned are all good choices. You might also add a resistor or maybe a fixed L-Pad (a resistor configuration that keeps impedence constant), and with it you can trim a little volume off the tweeter. I'd probably take it down no more than about a db.
Good luck!
Careful selection of mods should not decrease the resale value of the speakers. I've gotten more for ones I've sold modified than I would if they weren't...and justifiably, as they sounded better!
I'd suggest some crossover mods and internal speaker rewiring, as did a couple of people here. Paradigm References with their hard domes tend to be a little intense with some systems. There's only cheap vinyl insulated zip-cord inside those speakers. I've redone a couple pairs of them with DH Labs wire internally, and feel it was a very nice complement, but you can also go with something a little mellower. The DH Labs wire made them much more open and transparent, though extended the highs significantly over the standard zip-cord. This made it a little brighter, as the zip cord was killing some response, but it's also nice and smooth. A little trim with resistors as mentioned below might do in balance, as the speakers were voiced and crossovers designed with the zip-cord in them. I found the Kimber stuff to be too zippy and tipped up, and aggrevated the balance.
Changing the caps can do wonders. The caps Audiopath mentioned are all good choices. You might also add a resistor or maybe a fixed L-Pad (a resistor configuration that keeps impedence constant), and with it you can trim a little volume off the tweeter. I'd probably take it down no more than about a db.
Good luck!