I've had my AD17e for about a year and a half, now, and although I love the tone, I have nothing to compare it to.
Being a lifelong drummer in various bands, I had always wanted to learn to play acoustic guitar. When I started my shopping just after COVID shut everything down, I had set my price limit to $1000 and was looking primarily at Taylors and Martins online. I didn't want to head into a store and even if I did, I'm not sure it would have mattered as the only chord I've ever known was an open C and I could never play it cleanly. So I relied mostly on internet reviews. I had almost pulled the trigger on a 214, but at the time, the American Dream's were brand new and fit everything I wanted. I didn't care about fancy appointments or a high gloss finish and the priority on build quality and sound resonated with what I wanted, so I took the plunge.
I knew the obstacles I would face as a beginner with a dreadnaught and medium strings, but was committed enough to stick with it and adjust to the long learning curve. To make a longer story short, I had always replaced the Elixir PB mediums with the same until yesterday. This past summer I also bought a thin-line semi-hollow electric and put some flat-wound 11s on it. Man, did that spoil me. I'm just starting to get the hang of my first full barre chord shape (E) on it, but when I went back to the AD17e, I found it nearly impossible. So I had heard about the new D'Addario XS strings and I put on a set of Lights (12-53). At first I was concerned about losing sound quality as I had heard mediums were best on the GPs (they're what it came with), but I think they sound great and it has also made it much easier to play. I did have to loosen the truss rod about 1/4 - 1/2 turn and I also appreciate the reduced string tension.
