There's a summer carnival and fun fair in my town this weekend. Watching it being set up over the last few days, I've noticed a sign on one of the rides:

"If it's too loud, you're too old."

Now I'm 48, with, I think, fairly acute hearing (I can hear a distant 'phone when others can't etc.) However, I much prefer lower volumes with music as I age.

This seems slightly counter intuitive. My ability to read small print has noticeably weakened over the last year or two. If this can be extrapolated to the other senses, then surely I'd prefer louder music as I got older and my sense of hearing fades?

I've not delved into any biological reasons, but any thoughts?