Some of it probably comes down to semantics and ascribing different meanings to chosen terms, but to me "detailed" in sound reproduction often reads as something that draws attention to itself apart from or outside of a holistic aspect of the presentation.
By comparison how would one describe the sound heard from live acoustic instruments playing? Mostly I don’t think of "detailed" when listening to a live symphony orchestra, but rather ’liquid, flowing, natural warmth, uninhibited in scale and dynamic swings, lack of smear, less pinpoint and more amorphous, a swell of sonic force coming in waves’ - something along those lines. With smaller ensemble, more intimate live acoustic concerts the physical aspect and precision of placement often becomes more prevalent. Sitting close to a grand piano is quite an experience and quickly lets you know how most speakers would simply collapse trying to replicate to sheer wallop, power, presence and size of presentation such an instrument is capable of. Not to mention tonal aspects all the way down into the lows with the frequency range it requires - it’s a beast.
Choosing components (incl. cables) and speakers, setting filter values (actively), tweaking acoustics and the placement of speakers to me very much comes down to approximating that desired "informative within the whole of presentation," where the sound is more or less framed by a cohesive sphere of sound with a solid core to it. I don’t want to hear treble as I do overtones ingrained with a primal, timbral imprinting; HF that doesn’t draw attention to itself but has substance linked to the instrument or voice from where it originates. Same with the low frequencies for that matter - I just want them to uninhibitedly "be" when required and part of the presentation as a whole. Sound like that mayn’t impress at first (or, to some even later on), but to me it’s certainly the more mature and natural presentation.
Of course there’s also accounting for the Munson effect and the variations in perceived frequency response at different SPL’s. I could operate with a different filter preset for very high or low SPL’s (but don’t), and thus using a usually fixed reference SPL for setting filter values does imply that listening at either quite low and very high SPL’s doesn’t present the best overall balance of presentation. I’m not really bothered by that being I typically listen at or around ref. volume level.
