Feelings are different from person to person. So don't talk of "measuring" the "loudness". You can really measure the sound pressure with a sound pressure level meter. At 8 ft from the speaker sound pressure level (SPL) is 28 decibels. What is loudness 4 ft from the speaker? You get 6 dB more level at half the distance r = 1/2, that is 34 dB. The sound pressure varies with distance 1/r from the sound source. There is nothing squared! Scroll down to related links and look at "Sound pressure p and the inverse distance law 1/r".
That means, a higher sound pressure let you ears ache. You can become deaf.
Loudness of normal adult human voice is about 70 db at three feet according to http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/decibel-dB.html
The unit of loudness N is "the sone" and the unit of loudness level (volume) LN is "the phon". Scroll down to related links and look at "Conversion of sone to phon".
crescendo
The sound pressure level of 80 dB is a 10 times higher measure than the sound pressure level of 60 dB. Louder ist not the correct word, because it belongs to psycho acoustics and tells the loudness feeling.
The loudness or volume of music is measured in decibels. Decibels are a unit used to quantify the intensity of sound.
Decibels
Decibels?
Loudness or sound level is measured in units called decibels (dB).
Decibels are a measurement of the loudness of sound.
Decibels measure loudness by quantifying the intensity of sound waves. The higher the decibel level, the louder the sound.
The relationship between distance from the source and loudness is that as distance increases, the sound intensity decreases, resulting in lower perceived loudness. This follows the inverse square law, meaning that the sound intensity is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the source.
decibels
Decibels
Decibels are a unit used to measure the intensity or power level of a sound. While it is commonly associated with loudness, decibels specifically quantify the level of sound pressure.
The measure of loudness is typically quantified in decibels (dB). Frequency, on the other hand, refers to the pitch of a sound and is measured in hertz (Hz).
Loudness is the perceived intensity of sound, measured in decibels (dB). Distance affects loudness by causing sound to decrease in intensity the further it travels, as sound waves disperse in all directions. The inverse square law states that the sound pressure level decreases by 6 dB for each doubling of distance from the sound source.