I am guessing most of us know that below a certain frequency, say 40Hz or so, the clues we use to determine directionality disappear.
Yet when listening to an orchestra on my system it's quite obvious where that bass drum is in the field of performers.
What's going on?
Of course, you've guessed the answer. The thwack of the mallet on the bass drum head is filled with quick transients and it is those higher frequency transients that give us the directional cues, not the rolling thud of the resulting low frequency wave.
One interesting experiment I have performed for people is on a subwoofer. If you have one at home, try turning off the main amplifier and listen only to the sub's output. Thud, thud, boom, boom throughout the entire room.
It's not until the upper woofers or the lower midrange/tweeters get into action that we can actually tell "where" that boom is coming from.
