Per Kendall:

It always gives me pleasure to hand my Taylor to a Martin lover and watch his reaction as he plays it.Instant converts. One well known collector/picker played it and was both amazed and crest fallen. he said, "This sounds as good as my vintage Martin for which I just paid $10,000!"

Sorry, Kendall, but Taylors are the quintessential point-of-sale guitar. They arrive with Elixer strings and easy action, and reward the neophyte player with the sense that they're holding a brilliant instrument. But the sound is trebly and thin, and lacks, well, balls. Taylors are he favored guitar of a lot of folky girls. Nothing intended by that but observation.

Enjoy your Taylor- it probably has opened up in twenty years, as any guitar will. But your "collector/picker" friend sounds like he was stroking you behind the ears back there, buddy. He'll never be buying Taylors for his collection.