They pull off the counter-intuitive trick of revealing many recording flaws, while NOT making those flaws intolerable to listen to.
Yes!! That's exactly what my GMA Callistos do. Bad recordings don't sounds bad - they sound like the are *supposed* to sound bad. Husker Du is listenable because the awful recording and engineering is presented as part of the art, not as a mistake. Now, subs are a must if you want to articulate the low end. But once you augment the low end of a GMA system, IMHO you have a full-range system made in heaven.
But then again, I'm biased....just check out my system.