Not just how loud it is but the position of the volume knob in order to achieve the level of loudness is very important. It's called attenuation.
Another way of looking at this... when you turn down the volume knob you are appling the brakes to REDUCE the signal (resolution). When you turn UP the volume you are releasing the brakes. The only job of the volume knob is to attenuate/restrict the signal. The less interference the better.
When you have a preamp that adds too much gain and/or place it with an amp that more power than you really need it creates a situation where the volume knob is very low and restricts the signal coming in. It takes an attenuated reduced resolution and then boosts using gain to make it louder. This gain combined with lower resolution adds distortion. This can lead to listener fatigue.
A properly matched system allows for a higher volume knob setting. This allows for LESS attenuation and better resolution.
A volume knob set at 8:30 is much too low. The higher, less attenuated it is the better, provided it gives you the proper DB of loudness without clipping. 11 or 12 is much improved.