Annoying sounds from cars at stop light

My guess is that it is the vehicle that is vibrating due the large about of air being displaced by the subs. I have seen closed doors pulsating in and out with the beat of the music. It pretty much, eventually, turns ones car into a rattle bucket over time. Maybe they play it loud to cover up all the rattles, squeaks and other noises.

kalali asked: " dill, are you saying you need to be 28 feet away in order to “fully” hear a 40Hz tone?"

Yes and no, you can divide those wavelengths into halves, quarters, etc. for excellent results in designing a listening space. A 40Hz tone would sound very good in a 14ft. long room, but the best in a larger room. A 20Hz tone is 58ft. long so one could get very good results with a 24ft. room. All this is really not a big deal for home use, I just wanted to use this as an example on why we hear more bass from the car near us, than they do inside the car. A vehicle is the worst place to to have a sound system, sound quality wise.

dill 

You are correct about very low bass notes having very long waves. Not sure those 6" speakers in the door or even a 12" sub in the trunk are pumping out 30Hz bass loud enough that I can hear it from my car in open air.

I get very low bass from my headphones and Walkman CD player. What’s up with that? 

Good question geoff, I have no experience with headphones.