Ok, so...I traveled down this rabbit hole just a little bit more!
John Browne actually has a follow-up video to his big speaker comparison I posted above, where he bought additional examples of the 2021-22 Made in China speakers to compare and his conclusion was that there is indeed a batch of cones that were used in the production of some late-2021/early-2022 speakers that appears to give them a similar, smoother tonality that is comparable to the early-2000s models.
He also posted a video more recently where he tests the latest Made-in-UK version of the V30 and confirms that these newest ones do, in fact, sound like the early 2000s versions, pretty much supporting what crazy ol' Glenn Frick is suggesting in the very first video I posted.
So, there you have it...the 5Khz+ range is where V30 speakers vary the most and the 2000-2003 models, some 2021-22 models, along with the newest UK-made models appear to be the smoothest and most balanced sounding of them all.