Transmission lines of the old IMF variety (and one or two PMC's of the new variety too it seems) do all manner of things in different rooms, but I take your point. My ATC 100A's were absolutely fine in a small room, although the bass unit is over-damped and rolls away gently below 60Hz or so (easily eq'd back I remember at 'normal' listening levels - and so did the neighbours - cough!
)
I just thing that some audiophiles (one or two known to you as well) just don't like deep bass, the extra issues it can cause (and also ill-matched 'tower-type' speakers with possible comb-effects in the lower midrange as the old Mission 753 had if heard too close [less than 3m away]).