Bass may go non-directional at 100-125 Hz (equal power in all directions), but that does not mean we CAN'T tell where it is coming from. In that case, the answer to your question is that the room does have some effect and that psycoacoustics are taking over at that point.
The audible cut off may vary from person to person, just as it does at higher frequency's. However, sound presure on the skin, the movement of hairs all over the body and the vibrations felt through the floor, chair etc... all take over at even lower frequencies. Your brain combines all of this audible and inaudible information to figure out what is going on. With that said, the lowest frequency in which you can DETECT it's source is probably lower than you think.
Sdcampbell make some good points, however I disagree with the time duration comment. Longer may be more difficult to detect, as the sound waves and their respective decays are colliding and overlaping each other all over the room. A short duration sound is much less confusing to the brain. We hear the initial sound and it's decay with nothing else to fool us.
I also disagree with the lack of low frequency info on home theater software. The LFE might not have much below 25Hz, but the amount of bass in classical music on a movie soundtrack is the same as what is found on 2ch. If you think about it, 80% of most movie soundtracks is actually music.
The audible cut off may vary from person to person, just as it does at higher frequency's. However, sound presure on the skin, the movement of hairs all over the body and the vibrations felt through the floor, chair etc... all take over at even lower frequencies. Your brain combines all of this audible and inaudible information to figure out what is going on. With that said, the lowest frequency in which you can DETECT it's source is probably lower than you think.
Sdcampbell make some good points, however I disagree with the time duration comment. Longer may be more difficult to detect, as the sound waves and their respective decays are colliding and overlaping each other all over the room. A short duration sound is much less confusing to the brain. We hear the initial sound and it's decay with nothing else to fool us.
I also disagree with the lack of low frequency info on home theater software. The LFE might not have much below 25Hz, but the amount of bass in classical music on a movie soundtrack is the same as what is found on 2ch. If you think about it, 80% of most movie soundtracks is actually music.