"Certain ambient noise generating systems" maybe affects the passive sonar that is searching the sub, but i dont think affects the active sonar, or not much, because this are crashes of waves into the hull of the sub, and the reception of a rebounce.
As I understand it, at a basic level you are correct on what an active sonar does. A 'ping' or sound pulse is emitted into the water, and the kinetic energy of the 'sound' wave will propagate through the water, coming into contact with different things which can reflect, redirect or absorb some or all of the portion of the wave which comes into contact with it. It would be worthwhile to reread ones physics books, or at least the chapters covering the propagation of a wave through different mediums.
Now water, all on its own, can have differing impacts on a 'ping' depending on the temperature of the water, salinity (or other material dissolved or suspended in the water) and I suspect that water pressure also has an impact. In the case of something like a submarine, which would likely have a number of things included to mitigate the effectiveness of active sonar in searching for the sub.
So again, it gets back to it depends on what is used to mask the presence of a submarine, not the size of the submarine itself determing how difficult or easy it is to detect.
As an example (and please keep in mind, I know this is only a crude illustration of the concept) but consider two different types of motor vehicles, both powered by internal combustion engines. A
Harley Davidson Fatboy, and a
Toyota Prius. As mentioned, they are both powered by internal combustion engines, but which one would have a lower acoustic signature while driving. If the determination was made by size alone, and that a small vehicle is quieter than a larger one, the motorcycle would have a smaller signature and make less noise. However, the Prius, being a car, has a system in place to muffle to sound of the engine so it would likely be significantly quieter than the Harley.
-Cheers