The thing that turns me off from the earliest episodes isn't the audio quality or disorganization. I think, initially, the ridiculists were quite frankly MEANER. Right now the content feels friendly despite the fact the entire show is about mocking people. Lemon's intro in Episode 232 sums up the show's present attitude towards its subject matter. I really respect the way things are handled right now. Nothing is taken further than what people already present to the world, and unless someone is a truly awful human being there's really no ill will in the mockery. Shit's WEIRD for sure, but these are human beings living their weird lives and everyone kind of hopes they're gonna live good or better lives than they are now.
The oldest episodes are closer to feeling like POE's attitude towards its subjects of fascination. There's a level of cruelty in some of the way things are approached that doesn't sit as well with me now. It's not a huge, glaring difference in presentation. It's more the effect of the edgier jokes, the specific judgements cast at the subjects of episodes, and sometimes even just a particular subject being entertained at all. Sometimes it wasn't even really funny, it was just there to get mad and disgusted at. That's a very different vibe to the show now, even during their grossest recent episodes.
I don't really know how to explain it except that new episodes leave me feeling like I've watched a group of friends hang out and have fun, while some of the oldest eps leave me feeling like people were hanging out to talk shit about people they hate. It's a weird distinction for a show with this premise, but I hope that makes sense.
Meeting the ridiculists in real life and getting to talk to them, they seem self aware that they've grown IMMENSELY over the course of a decade (and like, that's healthy and normal to do over a ten year time span so good job guys!). There's far less transphobia in the show these days than there was initially (even if that wasn't necessarily their INTENT in making those jokes at the time). It's been a hot minute since I've heard a joke with Autism or Tourettes as the punch line. Things are kinder now on top of being more organized, less chaotic, and better produced. While there's definitely a lot of positives to be found in older eps, I think they're not recommended for a reason. They really don't represent what the show is now and who the readers are now, as people.