"It is said far too often that the louder speaker will sound better." Huh? I've never heard that, or at least don't remember hearing that...maybe it wasn't said loud enough. I have horn speakers that can go very loud without strain (hifi and pro stuff) so speaker distortion isn't an issue around here also since efficient speakers require less grunt from the amp. I listen at various levels based on how I feel but really not particularly loud, but so what? To each their own. And that concludes my statement of the obvious.
Perhaps the most annoying myth in audio of 2025? Talking about Loudness!
It is said far too often that the louder speaker will sound better, even by 1 decibel. I’ve found this statement to be supremely inaccurate. Anyone feels the same way or differently?
I feel the opposite to be true, once the speaker has reached a comfortable level, somewhere around 65-72 decibel, getting louder than that ought to sound worse for me. It usually sounds worse for a number of reason, room acoustic interactions, speaker cabinets, small distortion of drivers, etc.
Many years in this hobby has taught me to listen to things like smoothness, clarity, separation, microdynamics. An absolutely huge trait right now for me is how effortless is the sound. If it sounds strained, it’s not good to my ears, and many speakers sound strained to a degree even at average 70 db. After owning electrostats, I find many box speakers to lack the purity that I aim for. It gets worse the louder the box speakers get.