Les,

Two distinctly different issues--I too would always opt to not have on-board electronics that involved cutting a hole in the guitar. Elecronics will change and the "hole" will be a wart some day in a perfectly good guitar (and I would call Taylor "perfectly good"--their craftsmanship is absolutely excellent for a factory guitar!)

As to a cutaway, my experience is just the opposite. I've never felt that it compromised the sound, and most people I've read or heard concur. I don't like the looks of the cutaways but that's another issue.