You hit on the secret that people just do not get. Tips are the culprit in almost 90% of the thin sound cases. As a sound engineer I think I could actually mix an album with these. A lot of the cheaper headsets people always say are better add a ton of bass but are totally inarticulate on the highs and mids. You can even hear symbol "clicks" and vocal breaths with these. They are not quite up to some of the $300 sets but still nice. I have noticed an improvement after about 20 hours of use also. I may run mine for an entire day to get just a little more burn in time.
It's all about preference though. If people do not like the way a tip feels properly sealed then they won't like these as bass will not be enough. If there ears are trained by many hours cheaper sets than that may be all they like as they are used to it. And there are just preferences. I watched my son put a set in with small tips and he said he didn't like them. I said wait a minute and put a large set of tips in (we gave large ear openings) and he just said "wow".