I think the simple answer is 'yes'.
The latest loudspeakers are considerably better executed than previous models, and that has changed the performance significantly. There is a big learning curve that comes with these loudspeakers in terms of positioning, support and system integration that you only discover in retrospect is applicable elsewhere, and as that discovery process filtered back to the loudspeaker design, subsequent models got a lot better.
Perhaps the best way of thinking about this is that you don't get the new S-Class Mercedes (with all its sci-fi bells and whistles) without having decades of S-Class Mercedes designs influencing the design. If you compared a 2014 W222 S-Class with a 20 year old W140 S-Class (in good condition) the driving experience would be very different, but you would be able to recognise the commonalities.
You even get this going from the C-1.1 to the D-1. The C-1.1 is one of the best speakers in its class (and beyond) I've ever used. The D-1 on paper adds virtually nothing to the mix, but the D-1 is better. A lot better. It doesn't undermine how good the C-1.1 is, and the D-1 doesn't make the C-1.1 sound like it's a hopeless design, but the D-1 shows just how much more can be had from an already excellent loudspeaker design. At the end of the review, I can go back to the C-1.1 and pack up the D-1s... I'd just prefer that I didn't.
The difficulty from my perspective is defining why and how that D-1 is so much better than the C-1.1. Objectively, there's not much between them. Subjectively, it's a completely different matter.