On 6/10/2010 7:03 PM, rhelsenborg wrote:
> On 6/8/2010 11:44 PM, J. Clarke wrote:
>
>>> This is less of a problem unless you have your bass turned up real high
>>> or have a sub-woofer. Lower frequency sounds tend to cause ear damage
>>> sooner than other frequencies.
>>
>> Whoa. Back up. Any noise above 85 db can do damage. In the Navy they
>> told us that highs did the damage but I can't find any medical support
>> for that.
>
> True enough about the 85 db limit. I have read somewhere years ago - not
> on the net - that bass sounds can damage speaker membranes earlier than
> high frequency sounds. The same is probably true for eardrums I imagine.

Damaged eardrums aren't what make you go deaf though. A ruptured
eardrum will usually heal on its own in a few weeks, or if it doesn't it
can be surgically repaired. It's loss of hair cells in the cochlea that
make you go deaf--when one of those dies it doesn't grew back and can't
be repaired (they're working on that--in 20 years there may be a neat
clean implant--right now the ones they have have wires coming out of
your head and parts hanging off of you and aren't complete replacements
anyway).

> Ever remove a speaker cover and feel (or see) the speaker movement from
> the bass? Or been in a car with a sub-woofer with the bass turned up
> high or at the max. I have. It was causing vibration in the glass/frame
> of my car. I have never felt that from high frequencies have you?

You can feel it but that doesn't mean that it's killing your hair cells.