The last Bulldog I flew had unfortunately been fitted with a stall warning horn, presumably as part of its civilianisation conversion. It was as useless as most others of the type (e.g. as fitted to the PA28) and would sound well before the stalling AoA was reached - it ruined the aircraft for any spirited flying.
I opine that a warning system which presents the warning "well before" the event is probably performing its intended function. For the record, to be civilian compliant, it must warn at least 5 knots before the stall, but not more than 10.
I have enjoyed spirited flying in aircraft with functioning stall warning systems (and without). The operation of a stall warning system does not prevent the spirited flying, it just presents additional information in some phases.
The few military types I have flown which did not have stall warning systems at all were also perfectly fine to fly, though I can imagine a low time, quasi trained pilot being at higher risk of departing controlled flight. Like AoA systems now coming to the forefront, decades ago when stall warning systems (as opposed to aerodynamic warnings), I think the piloting skills began to dumb down in respect of stall awareness - "I don't care, the stall warning will let me know". On the other hand, I believe that military pilots are much better trained from the beginning, so stall awareness is ingrained early, and becomes muscle memory. Civil pilots can certainly get there too, with devotion. The problem is that the civil industry seems to do whatever it can to suppress or devalue devotion to learning hands and feet skills - and the AoA system, and stall/spin resistance of the Icon A5 don't help that situation....