The Best Sounding Systems can Play Loudly with Low Distortion

Rationalize it any way you want

It’s only a rationalization in the sense it’s a hypothesis based on experience far exceeding that of most here, probably yourself included. I’ve assembled more systems in just the last 15 years than most audiophiles ever would over multiple lifetimes. By all means though, remain willfully ignorant if that’s your thing, it’s a popular character trait these days after all. 

"an effect known as listening fatigue, wherein the ear’s sensitivity to the onslaught decreases and the listener tries to compensate by continually increasing the volume"

I have owned certain components throughout the years with which, regardless of the listening level, I seemed compelled to "chase the volume control."  After giving it some thought, I suspect these were components that were not capable of strong dynamic swings throughout the frequency range and so lacked the ability to sound "exciting" causing me to turn up the volume in order to establish an emotional connection with whatever music was playing.  Thankfully, I no longer have that issue with my current gear, which sounds good regardless of how loud it is playing. 

Common sense that best systems do that.  

The cleaner the system, the less loud it sounds as the speakers don't go into compression.

https://youtu.be/P1R2dKRDFUk

@helomech 

"I’ve assembled more systems in just the last 15 years than most audiophiles ever would over multiple lifetimes."

You should check my profile, bunch of stuff in there that I've been playing around with over the last couple of years and more that I've hinted at from decades back with more to add along with my own commentary. I'm not a neophyte you know.