dweller,
it is not my experience that all systems sound good at moderate levels.
The best systems sound great at moderate levels.
Mediocre systems need to be cranked up to give the impression of sounding better, all they are doing is amplifying everything that’s wrong with the system. They are just louder.
Think ghetto boom box blasting out of someone’s car trunk as they are driving by. Loud? Hell yeah. Better? They don’t realize - or care - that 95% of what they are listening to is distortion and the sound of their car’s body vibrating.