[Dixielandjazz] 1 Hz Hi Fi Woofer

[BudTuba at aol.com]

In a message dated 11/4/05 5:17:35 PM Eastern Standard Time,  
tubaman at tubatoast.com writes:

Who,  among us, know if it really went down to 1 Hz? Doesn't the normal
>  hearing range start at about 20 Hz? If so, why pay for unusable Hz? 
>  :-) VBG
>
> Kind of like the sound at the edge of a Black Hole in  space. 
> Supposedly a
> Bb, but pitched at about 57 octaves below  a piano middle Bb. So none 
> of us
> could hear it  anyway.
>



1 Hz is not a sound...it is a beat of 1 cycle per second, like a  
grandfather's clock.  Most people's hearing is pretty much limited to about  50 HZ and 
what we hear when a piano, bass,  or tuba is playing pedal tones  is not the 
fundamental but all the upper harmonics.  So for someone to  boast about a system 
that responds down to 1 HZ is pure poppycock.  Unless  they have a very clean 
powersupply in the amplier, everything lower than 60 Hz  is masked by power 
noise, which amplifier designers take great pains in  filtering out.
 
>From a website I found on hearing testing:  "The range of frequencies  tested 
by the audiologist are 125 Hz, 250 Hz, 500 Hz, 1000 Hz, 2000 Hz, 4000 Hz  and 
8000 Hz. If you are familiar with a piano keyboard with the low notes at the  
left end and the high notes at the right end, the audiogram is similar. 250 
Hz  on the audiogram is the same as the "middle C" key on the piano.)"  
 
So hearing testing is limited to one octave below middle C.
 
A (above middle C)  440 hz
A (- 1  octave)          220
A (- 2 octave)           110
A (- 3  octave)             55
A (- 4  octave)             27.5  = Lowest note on a piano and is recognized 
by us by the mixture  of higher frequency harmonics.  A pure -4 octave A tone 
would not be heard  by humans, but could be felt as a vibration.
 
 

Roy (Bud) Taylor
Smugtown Stompers JB
"we  ain't just whistling dixie!"