Points well made. I wonder if you would correlate the "air and ambience" that you hear with the "sparkle and phosphorescence" that Bob noted in the silence of the chapel recording?

The issue most of us have (and some noted it well earlier e.g. Not being sure what a drum should actually sound like) is that we can only compare x to y. We don't know which is the truth...x or y.

Bob makes reference to the actual chapel of said recording. That is a step further than many of us get. So, it comes down to preference and the amount of time we give to adjust to what we here.

Things that are night and day different immediately and not guaranteed to be better in the long run when various things happen with one's hearing.

My experience tells that I make some changes to my system and they are keepers; other changes I adjust or remove altogether.

Rgds,
Nick