What are we hearing below 20hz?

billpete

If we can't hear below 20 hz, what are we hearing? 

Lower frequencies are felt more than "heard."

100% correct. Below 20 hz, my chest pounds. 

I feel it too but what am I hearing? Those low notes on the organ (and now piano) are making a sound that I can hear. If I can't hear 16 hz, what am I actually hearing? It isn't nothing and it isn't just that I feel it, I hear something. Or..........am I just nuts?

OK, so I read now that under ideal conditions, that the human ear can hear as low as 12 hz and as high as 28 khz. That is well beyond what we're always led to believe. Not everything on the internet is true but my ears are telling me something different than what is normally thought of anyway so...... Since I seem to hear something below 20 hz, I feel better about reading that. There are also speakers that claim to reach 12 hz, Golden Ear maybe? I also thought the Avante Garde large horns were able to reach maybe even 10 hz? I'm not aware of anything that has been recorded to those levels so not sure of the point but range beyond what we can hear makes some sense to me also. If a component can go well above and well below our hearing range, it seems like it should be able to reproduce within our range all that much easier or better. I'm probably oversimplifying but this is the non-engineer in me, thinking this way. Many components show a frequency range well beyond what we can hear, such as cartridges reaching 10hz to 40khz or higher, preamps that show 1hz or 5hz to well over 100khz etc. I appreciate those numbers, even if I can't hear them. Maybe I just like to be impressed by numbers but I appreciate them nonetheless. 

Interesting post!  Thanks for the question and replies!  I found it interesting and educational!

So, has anyone ever heard or felt the presence of the 64 foot organ pipe? I have not but would like to. Hard to imagine when the organist hits that note, that the crowd hears nothing. That would be very odd. Anyone??????????

Also something that floats around the internet is that 14hz is a lethal tone. A ridiculous claim. The tone at a certain SPL, certainly could be lethal as could many other frequency range tones. It is the SPL decibel level that is the danger. Nobody dies in church with a large pipe organ. The lowest tones can make you feel a bit uneasy, kind of like a carnival ride. I enjoy that odd feeling that I get from the deepest bass notes. It borders on "uncomfortable" like a thrill ride. 

Thanks

I once owned TDL Monitors that were large transmission lines and were said to reach down to 17hz. On a few recordings I could feel what seemed like a mild earthquake in the room.  

@roxy54 

Yes, my AR 9's cause considerable vibration in my listening room as well. The hardwood floor vibrates at times, interesting sensation. What did you hear at the same time? I hear very low bass, according to the test record, I was hearing 17 hz. Probablly most bass below 30 hz is going to cause considerable vibration and will also depend on the SPL as to how much. I'm still trying to figure out what we actually hear at those lowest tones but from what I've read, it is humanly possible to hear 12 hz. Still poses the above question. What happens at 8 hz or 10 hz? 

We can discern distinct pitch @ 20 Hz, some tests reporting 17-18 Hz.

We can definitely hear sound of some sort below 18 Hz, but we wont hear it as a tone. When I played back 16 Hz on the subwoofer, I heard a chuffing sound, like that from blades of a helicopter sitting at idle. But no sense of a distinct tone.

Playing my record of Holst The Planets - Saturn, ~ 2/3ds into it, I could easily hear the organ pedal tone of E(0) 20.6 Hz - as a distinct tone.