Why isn’t more detail always better?

Unless we are talking about really bad equipment or extremely lossy formats, there is no difference in the musical detail presented in playback.  Can anyone point out a specific bit of information in a particular place in a recording that cannot at all be heard with one piece of gear versus another?  What differs is the presentation of the information--whether something is more highlighted or is emphasized, or not, whether the tonal balance is such that certain instruments are more clearly heard, etc.  It is rarely a matter of too much or too little detail.  A lot of gear highlight treble information by reducing bass or mid-bass which tends to make it harder to hear such detail; is this good or bad?; it really depends on personal preference.