Back in the day of the M10 / M100, there was a tweeter upgrade offered. From memory it was a new tweeter and a slight tweak to the active cross-overs (a component change). It almost totally tamed the treble sting on my M10s.

According to Paul at Meridian, the new SE tweeters are significantly more sensitive than the non SE design. (So they need less power to achieve the same SPL).

We also know that the amplifiers have been upgraded, as have the DACs etc. (wider bandwidth and higher bit rates).

One key advantage of active speakers is that the drivers and amplifiers are matched.

Given the upgrades to the amplifiers and increased sensitivity of the tweeters, I strongly suspect that one without the other isn't going to give you sonic improvements.

I imagine the treble would be emphasized and although I can't recall exactly how much more sensitive Paul said the tweeters were, I think it was in the order of 6dB more sensitive which would equate to being 1.5x louder for the same input power.

The complete SE upgrade, whilst a considerable investment, gets you an almost new speaker and 3 or 6 year warranty.

And depending on your point of view, the lack of clamps could be a bonus. I personally like the bling of silver clamp rings on the blue DSP8000SE's on tour but prefer the discrete look of the clampless designs on the 7200/5200s.

Various from vintage to SE