Fascinating. I would’ve never known (mostly because I never watch anything but the theatrical cuts).
I will admit watching the ANH clip posted above does sound a little different than I remember. Not drastically so. It’s obviously the same recording. Just… a little more processed? Or processed a little differently? Something.
In 2004 they tried to match his voice to the sequels. I’m surprised if people hadn’t noticed, I’ve only seen the 2004 version 3 times and noticed straight away!
Edit: and I didn’t even click the links so I don’t know what’s in them.
Sure, his voice in 2004 version of Star Wars onwards sounds better than he does prior to that said version, but still not as good as he does in Empire, Jedi, and Episode 3 because they all have far better production quality value than the first film.