Vibration detection in insects can be studied behaviourally and neurophysiologically. Specialised vibration receptor organs are often located in the legs. Determining the vibratory threshold is an important parameter to characterise an organs’ physiological function. We argue that an experimental setup should consider the sensory organs’ functional morphology to measure its maximal vibratory sensitivity. Experimental data show that vibratory thresholds determined by electrophysiological recordings can be influenced by several experimental parameters like leg position, direction of stimulation and attachment of appendages to the stimulator, which affect the mechanical energy reaching the receptor systems. The recording techniques with their different resolutions and the stimulus calibration may also influence the recorded sensitivity. We discuss physiological case studies, mainly from orthopteroid insects, to emphasise the importance of these experimental parameters on absolute sensitivity. We suggest that the experimental parameters with a known influence should be stated in electrophysiological investigations for comparisons of physiological data.