Hey Lugnut---the "new ones" arrived mid march--performance is the same--the only difference besides the extra 1/4' of depth is that the basket (frame) is now a clone of the HD speaker---no more dremeling EVER required!
The change came when I found out HD changed rear pods on Ultras, and that I would have to have a dedicated speaker for the rears--which are literally being glued together as Im typing this--just got off the phone from overseas
Anyways---the frame I use fits exact, and even though I never had to dremel, had to make this change.
As a company, we feel we have the best motorcycle speaker out there, and will constantly do refinements to make them as user friendly as possible
Hope this helps!
PEZ