One pair of my AR11s is a first generation. It came with 2 blown tweeters. One tweeter was a Tonegen replacement and the other was an original tan dome tweeter. I replaced both with 2nd generation AR11 tweeters. I no longer have the tan dome tweeter, but I remember it being stiffer than the 2nd generation tweeter. The fabric of the newer tweeter feels the same as those in the tweeters in my friends AR9 speakers and those in my AR9LSi, AR98LS & AR98LSi speakers. Also, I not sure about the original AR11 tweeters, but the newer tweeters have a domed wood button under the fabric dome that makes it difficult to push the dome in far enough to dent it.
A case in point, recently while roughhousing, both of my grandsons smashed into one of my daughter’s AR98LS speakers. The 1½ dome UMR was flattened and the dust caps for both the 8” LMR and 12” woofer were pushed in. The tweeter, however, was fine. I haven’t tried to fix it yet.
As far as which dome sounds better, I probably wouldn’t be the best judge. On a good day, I’m lucky to hear much beyond 8,000hz without a lot of help. I’m sure that I am not alone.