It isn't whether you can hear a difference. It is that your choice of words to describe that difference are largely meaningless. Perhaps you should define your terms.
Hmm, I'd have believed my choice of terms were telling in themselves. But then again, I may take a lot of my descriptive terms for granted, also being that the "hifi community" I loosely engage with seems to sense what one means in this regard.
Conversely I've always liked having "non-hifi" friends come over and hear them describe, in their very own words, what it is they experience when hearing music over my setup. Often they excuse for not finding the proper "language" to come about their impressions, as they seem to believe I'd expect from them, but I end up encouraging them to go by their very gut feeling and name it whatever they want to; indeed this is a more or less secret admiration of mine, hearing them go about their impressions naively, if you will, as if to somehow be backtracked away from these worn out terms that may end up becoming too self-absorbed and, yes... meaningless. So, point taken.
Present: readily at hand, "it's right there"-feeling - in fact a more relaxed presentation, as one doesn't have to use subconscious energy to "extract" a natural musical presence.
Organic: as opposed to mecanic, stifled, sterile, thin-ish; exhibiting a natural varmth, fullness, and life, actually a very encompassing term.
Whole: as opposed to (maybe too obviously) fragmented, diffuse, detail-oriented/analytical; of-a-piece, lifelike sound, balanced - a holistic presentation, if you will.
Better resoluted: finer edges, smoother, better texture, cleaner, outlines more clearly heard, bigger insight.
Free flowing: very vital aspect as well - unhindered, liquid, ever-flowing, way of preparing or setting a lifelike presentation, emotionally engaging.
Don't know if the above sought explanation helps. Sorry if it's still diffuse...