In my experience (and this is a generalization), Macross fans really liked the homages, but they tended to make Robotech fans angry. Weirdly.
Anyway, I think you make a good point: every Macross sequel is designed to give the old fans something they want (not always succeeding, of course), while bringing new fans up-to-speed as quickly as possible and giving them something that THEY want, as well.
Which is something that Robotech sequels never figured out how to do.
(And I'm sure the Colony Drop guys would argue that Unicorn's references are "organic" while Frontier's are "forced," or some BS like that...)