In the new version, the Star Destroyer lasers at the beginning of the second Tantive/Star Destroyer shot seem kind of buried compared to the "before" example. I know that they're not that prominent in the '93 mix either, but they just seem too hard to hear now.

FWIW, on the LMayer in-theater recording, the SD lasers seem to sound louder and clearer than in the '93 mix or either the "before" or "after" of your comparison. Then again, it's a mono tape recording made inside a movie theater, and it's not picking up the full dynamic range anyway. (Actually, between the LMayer and morgands1 recordings, I'm surprised at how much sound fidelity I can detect that I just don't hear in any of the official releases.)

I just don't believe that laser SFX would ever have sounded as vague in '77 as in that one bit in your new test. I understand that you can only get a certain amount of fidelity out of the '85 and '93 mixes, but could you possibly try to make them at least as audible as in the "before" example?