Loudness - Why has the industry stopped producing amplifiers with this feature any longer?


I listen to music at all times of the day and night (solid sleep eludes me the older I get).  My favorite times are when the family is gone and I can select the listening level, mostly moderate to higher volumes.  But the simply fact is I find myself listen at lower levels much more often then my preferred listening mode.

Piggybacking on a discussion regarding low level listening here on Audiogon, I'm posing the question:  Why has the majority of industry stopped producing amplifiers with this feature any longer?

I look forward to your input
Ag insider logo xs@2xtenbar
Thanks to everyone for the responses.  It seems that of those that responded, more are not in favor of the feature.  That would support the reason why the feature has virtually disappeared from the market (exceptions were noted).

Thanks again
4+ years ago I had a Parasound A23, which had VC on the back for each channel. It helped in my non-symmetrical room
I had a Denon integrated amp many years ago with a loudness button---loved it at lower volumes. I'm looking into getting a new integrated soon and the Luxman integrated is my #1 choice since they still have a loudness button. I wish the new Yamaha's had them.
I have tone controls on my main integrated but still use a Schiit EQ to pull out a little midrange. I run Klipsch speakers, so they can be a little bright, which I knew when I bought them. That is the closest I can get to a loudness curve.
The current gen of Yamaha integrateds still have variable loudness too. Looking at one since the R900 in my office is dying a slow death-of-a-1000-broken-solders-and-switches.
-Geoff
Also, it becomes necessary to protect people from themselves. In this case, many people may have just left the loudness switch in the on position regardless of volume. This could result in damaging a speaker or at least distorted sound. When I was in the army from 1975 to 78, this was the golden era of receivers. Everyone had one! Guys would blast them all night and weekend long! People were returning them damaged to the PX left and right. (The PX asked no questions. All were covered under warranty). Getting rid of the loudness switch was maybe one small way of dumbing the receiver down. There was a standing joke in the army; They used to write "TGIF" on the inside of our boots. Toes go in first! Joe