Shouldn't the Bass be felt? Duh

Get yourself one of the larger REL subwoofers. You'll feel the bass :)

I am in the process of re-establishing my 2 channel system and that is really one of the goals...lots of strong, clean tight bass...low growl vibrating the rib cage

What you seek is expensive. It will also be big and ugly rather than a gorgeous piece of fashionable furntiure. Furthermoree, most people wish to remain friendly with neighbours! These are the reasons it is not widely available from your local Hi-Fi dealer.

Bose acoustimass is an early example of how low cost bass from a 4th order compound band pass design has become acceptable to many consumers and proved that aesthetic considerations dominate consumer choices (not vibrating rib cages).

Today, given the lack of marketed designs to the contrary, many feel that ported designs offer a correct and accurate bass sound...acoustimass may be at one extreme but you get the idea. (Acoustimass are great value for what they do and hence their success)

What you seek requires stupendous levels of undistorted energy around 20 Hz...unfortunately it is expensive to create serious amounts of ultra LF without filling the 60 to 120 Hz region with ugly harmonics; excessive harmonics quickly result in an overly dominating bass to the ears (you can barely hear 20Hz but you can readily hear 120 Hz, indeed your ears are some 38 decibels more sensitive at 80 Hz than at 20 Hz).

This is why rock concerts/night clubs are often the place to feel the music...they can afford the professional loud speaker systems that you crave....systems that produce 20 Hz without tons of unwanted harmonics in the mid bass.

My advice....either;

1) find an old second hand large studio main monitor (Tannoy, Altec, Genelec, Westlake, PMC, ATC, Meyer etc.)...you can probably get something for $5k second hand that you will also be able to feel in the rib cage (shipping could be a major hurdle).

2) look for several high quality subs to couple with smaller two channel speakers (you probably need at least a couple of 15" woofers driven by 1000 watts each for vibrating the rib cage...again this is not cheap and achieving synergy may not necessarily be easy)

Good luck.

You didn't mention your room size. If it's rather small, a good sub will help pressurize the environment. If you want to rock the house, then you'll need either the aforementioned monitors or a pair of large floor standers with a sub for each channel. The system's overall output SPL will decide the effect.

Although acoustic music doesn't go as loud as amplified rock, my large collection of organ CDs will get my Velodyne ULD-15II to rattle the kitchen windows downstairs from 32 Hz down to 16Hz. I can't hear the fundamental but I sure can feel it.

Integrating the sub with the main speakers is a chore though. It's all about balance. But, if you like, crank up the sub!

There's a lot of speakers I haven't heard but I have yet to hear anything that can shake the house like some of the old Infinity IRS series and later Genesis ribbon hybrids.

Go out and buy a pair of B&W 801 ser II's and drive the hell out of them with a good quality high current SS amp,ie Pass, Bryston, Krell, etc... You'll feel the bass.
Jim