Outstanding posts!
If I recall correctly,the Dahlquist DQ-10 used a $5 Motorola piezo as a "super tweeter". Not many of us will dispute the legitimacy of this speaker as one of the most impactful speakers of our time. Genius has a way of leap frogging price barriers. You may remember a young man who built a 700 watt power amp inside a Folgers coffee can years ago? Then there are those occasions where all the stars line up, and gifted hands (and, minds) are given the freedom to operate without limitations. This is where the ground trembles (sometimes, literally) in my view, and the "state of the art" takes a giant leap forward.
A couple more comments on "budget speakers":
As a modder/hot rodder of hifi gear, we learned pretty early that the raw drivers are not necessarily the weakest link in the chain. When things are removed/replaced that "make things sound worse" the sonic results can be stunning. When the audio signal is presented in very good shape to the tensil leads on the raw drivers, "audiophile characteristics" suddenly appear, and the magic happens. Very consistently.
@fsonicsmith Well done with the Advent and B&W mods. My guess is that they retained the sonic "personality" that you loved about them, but are now infinitely more musical. Money well spent.
John