Metal is a great material to use if you know what you are doing. Apparently they don't.
Using that format, I would have used double nested metal spheres with a viscoelastic layer between them. This would have produced an inert structure yet maintained the same look/design for the speaker system.
I would LOVE to work on the Reference 3, modifying it; I am confident I could extract incredible level of performance from this system, far exceeding the stock unit and matching the best speakers in the world. That tweeter has incredible potential, and so does the basic premise. Let's dump the stock mids, use ceramic or ceramic hybrids, apply the double nested visco-elastic principle(I can use fiber re-enforced epoxy, dynamat, etc. to do this) and replace the common quality 10" driver with an JL W7 or TC Sounds 8" or 10", and go to a 3 way active format; discarding the passive crossover.
-Chris