Maybe in other hobby interests this happens too. For example, I got back into cycling 20+ years ago, only to find that the bicycles of my youth were nothing like the advancements that they had made in the meantime. Brakes were better, wheels somehow were better, and more. Same thing in photography when everything went to digital. Maybe a rough start, but quite impressive for the last 15 years or so.
Audio is no different. Speakers have much the same designs though, as a bass reflex design still is very common, or a ported design. There may new interest in other design such as open baffle, which I find to be incredible in many ways.
In the end, if you have a 'decent' speaker to start with, as much could accomplished and more with speaker placement or somehow hiding room treatment.
>>>Here is a tip about room treatment: In my case, I use pillows and chairs and maybe a memory foam sheet to cover the couch. The chairs with pillows on the back of the chair, is really convenient to move around as needed for control of reflections. Best part is, you can put it all back after a listening session, and the WAF is nil.