Metering, and finding out where you stand is a great step in the right direction.
Trust me, no matter how bad you do, there's people out there (probably even on this forum) who are going to talk shit, who think they're louder than you, but have never metered.
It's like the guys on tuning forums, who talk about the HP their cars produce, and it's completely based on the claims of the tuning companies they buy their parts from.
There's so many variables involved in any of these high-end niche industries, that there's no such thing as plug-and-play. Something as silly as a loose ground, or incorrect phasing can take huge chunks out of your score.