Micah, there's a difference between mere personal opinions and matters which testing has shown to be factual. On the effect of a 3dB increase in loudness, both Randy's "slightly noticeable" and the "slightly louder" which Alan has pointed out
here and elsewhere are in accord with actual results. Also keep in mind that the power increase required for this slight increase in loudness is logarithmic, not linear, which means that the difference in loudness from 1 to 2 watts is identical to the difference between 100 and 200 watts.
If you want to confirm the small effect of a 3dB increase for yourself, simply play some constant level source(such as the receiver test tones)and then increase the volume control setting 3 points(not precisely 3.0dB, but close enough).
