I followed most of this but is the claim that a dry tuned box is louder than a wet? Would this similarly mean that an MMMM four voice would be louder than an LMMH? I mean, of course, in the unlikely situation where every other element would be exactly the same.
Nope, wet is louder than dry.
MMMM would be louder than LMMH, the low reed sounds quieter (but adds depth to the sound) and the high reed also sounds quieter (but adds bite to the sound).
But with 4 MMMM reeds the beating (which the ear picks up on) is much less pronounced than with 2 MM reeds -- even though the volume (measured with a microphone) will be bigger, it will "cut through" background noise (and other instruments) less well.
