I expected the "Original" to look poor and the "Proof" to look terrific. Have I just got the terminology wrong, or what?
Everyone has that same feeling about softproofing.
Here's a link to a previous group of posts on the same subject/question.
http://ddisoftware.com/tech/printer-media/softproofing-in-qi/You can see you aren't alone, and I stand by my comments, and Seth's, that nothing takes the place of a print for judging your final work.
It's just a guess made by your computer based on less than perfect information.
Fred