How low can one hear Huh?? Say again

Gregm,
You don't need to have space to allow the whole wave length in order to hear bass. Otherwise, there is no headphone that can reproduce anything below 4-5KHz.

1. Even if you can't hear 20Hz, at reasonable listening levels a speaker with an F3 point of 20 Hz has much more perceived output at 30dB than one -3dB @ 30Hz. Perceptually that can correspond to more than a 10dB change at 1KHz.

2. With 10% harmonic distortion on a 20Hz tone the harmonics sound louder than the fundamental. Distortion can be a lot worse at those low frequencies.

3. The threshold of hearing goes way up at low frequencies. Below ~75dB you're not going to hear 20Hz even when your threshold of hearing hasn't increased with age or rock concerts.

In PSYCHOLOGY OF MUSIC,Carl Seashore states that the lowest audible tone is about 16 cycles per second. It is effected by intensity(amplitude) and the form of the tone. Someone with acute hearing can hear a "pure" tone(no overtones) at about 12 cycles. With an electrical spark(almost all overtones) the low limit is as high as 100 cycles .

The upper limit average for those under 40 is about 16,000 cycles. With age,it drops to about 12,000.(A cricket chirp is about 8,000.)

Also,remember the difference tones. The lowest tone a string bass plays is about 4o cycles per second but it sympathetically vibrates "undertones" at 20 and 10 and 5 and 2 1/2(etc.) So,the average listener can probably hear the first difference tone but the lower ones are as much felt as heard.

I can take or leave subwoofers, but the ones I've heard set up correctly(for my ear) have the volume set just high enough to be noticed-and then the volume is turned down a smigeon and the crossover is set so that cellos,trombones,and tympani come through the mid range drivers--their difference tones come through the sub(s).

The reason subs work well is because at around 60hz your ear can no longer pick-up it's location with ease. At around 25hz in my room you can hardly hear the sub even though it still measures 80 db on the spl meter...you can feel the room begin to flex. At 20hz. and 70db output as measured with the spl meter you can not hear the bass at all...you can feel the room, cement floor and everything in the room begin to shudder at this very low freq.

A good test with sustained low bass freq is Archetribe (earthtones) which is " world " or newage type of music. Play it and feel your room, even if you can't hear it.

Dave

That is going to be an individual thing. Some of us can hear lower than others. The issue seems to be less about hearing and more about exeriencing.

We can still feel bass considerably lower than we can hear it. That is part and parcel of the aural experience of music.

Regardless of the listeners ability to hear, the system that cuts out above 30Hz robs the listeners of the sensation associated with their music.