Perhaps the most annoying myth in audio of 2025? Talking about Loudness!

At AVS and elsewhere, they love to say the louder speaker will sound better. If a comparison wasn't db matched, it immediately becomes invalid. Saw somewhere yesterday that someone quoted a famous person name Toole in which Toole said the louder speakers will sound better, even by 1 decibel.

I find it to be ridiculous.

In the correct room, louder sounds incredible. It does in mine. However my 70 yr old ears wouldn't take well to anything over 75 db for long sessions. But this way I should have many more years of high quality listening. 70 db is what I shoot for and it still sounds great, just not the being in the concert room type of experience. But I always wear audiophile earplugs for all concerts anyway. Loud music listening is something enjoyed until it results in tinnitus, or worse, loss of hearing. 

I went to a concert at Boston Symphony Hall last weekend, sitting in row Z, middle of the hall.  Crescendos hit 90dB in the first and fourth movements of Mahler Symphony #4.  At home, I play it quite a bit softer. But to feel the envelopment one hears in the hall, it has to be louder than my wife would like!  She won’t go to Mahler concerts usually.

Volume matching in A/B comparing is important. Usually, louder will sound "better," even by 1 dB. 

However, I'm of the opinion that one should choose volume levels to match what one thinks the source probably sounded like. Tool? 100 dB is about right. Mahler at 90 dB? Sure. For big Mahler finales, with a gong on stage for instance (e.g., in the Eighth), even more than 90 dB would not be too loud. 

But if you crank it up for small chamber orchestras, or string quartets, or solo piano, or acoustic guitar, etc., you misrepresent the source. To my ears, fine tuning the volume as I begin to listen is as important as fine tuning the balance (which is important for getting instrumental placement and soundstage right).