The ES2 is indeed puzzling. I've played a handful of guitars where I thought it sounded awful. About a year ago I got a GT all mahogany and maybe I just got lucky, but I really enjoy the plugged in sound. I even had a sound guy at church compliment the sound. And there are a handful of awful sounding plugged in guitars at my church. I'm just pretty picky when it comes to acoustics that are plugged in, period.
But even saying that, if I were to buy another Taylor, I might go a different route with the electronics. It's simply too hit and miss with the ES2, in my experience.