It's John...unless you were addressing this to Ian... ;-)
I've found that "good dark" gear is plenty resolving. To the point you're missing nothing. And if you listen to live music, especially un amplified in a good venue it's nothing bright. I just saw Jersey Boys in Vegas this past week. At Paris. Damn...I would have said it's dark. But I heard every single detail. Every single nuance. Every single inflection. Simply amazing acoustics. I was on the 2nd row just a bit to the left. I think i heard more of them vs the speakers...
As for your post, yes to me it's more accurate. Again in comparison to live un amplified music. And yes can certainly be a preference. And yes...another thread let's dig in ;-)
Sorry John, I was reading too many of Ian's posts, lol.