Digital BW, The Print

I'm getting pretty good prints with UT2 and EEM (on an Epson 1280) 
(using Epson driver/sliders, not custom curves); nice blacks and smooth 
tones. But the tones around K=70-80 tend to "run together"; anything 
with a bunch of detail in that range (say, wood or brick, etc) gets 
smoothed out in an unnatural-looking way. Is anyone else seeing this?

Harry