Kijanki is absolutely correct. Issues of perception aside, I will offer this example:
I have sat in the clarinet section of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra during rehearsals of many operas. It is typical during the sitzprobe (first time that the orchestra rehearses with the singers; usually in the rehearsal room, not in the pit/stage), for the singers to stand behind the orchestra, also facing the conductor. They stand further back than both the horns, and the trumpets/trombones. The sheer volume that a great singer can produce is astounding. It is sometimes unbearable in it's power (undistorted, of course), and can definitely be more powerful than a horn, trumpet, or trombone playing full tilt.
Believe it, or not.
I have sat in the clarinet section of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra during rehearsals of many operas. It is typical during the sitzprobe (first time that the orchestra rehearses with the singers; usually in the rehearsal room, not in the pit/stage), for the singers to stand behind the orchestra, also facing the conductor. They stand further back than both the horns, and the trumpets/trombones. The sheer volume that a great singer can produce is astounding. It is sometimes unbearable in it's power (undistorted, of course), and can definitely be more powerful than a horn, trumpet, or trombone playing full tilt.
Believe it, or not.