strategies for azimut/elevation/distance calculations with a lot of objects . .

Hi there,

imagine myUniverse..

that java core instantiating a bunch of abstractions (including visual & sound objects)
each abstraction including their own calculation unit for itself in order to be able:
- to activate/inactivate depending on camera/object distance
- to place correctly sounds in the different sound channels (azimut/elevation)

I wouldn't have 100000 objects in my map, and not even let's say ... 15 more visible at the same time (depending on the distance to the camera, you'll have to move into that 3D space to see the others I mean)

with no sound, no visuals finished (only colored sphere right now even without fsaa), I have a poor 30fps.

For me it is a bit warning on my board.
maybe it shouldn't be, but it means I have to improve things before to go further.

I already pushed out from my jAVA core all things & calculations not required in this part ; I mean, the JAVA is the interface with the GUI for composition purpose (=put objects, move them, modify them), it is also the point where I save/load my whole maps (=all objects with properties correctly placed etc)
It means I don't need to calculate anything inside the JAVA.

At first, I calculated all distances there and fired the distance in each abstractions via messages.
I thought it would have been faster to do the calculation inside the abstractions themselves.

now, a bit lost.

what would you advice ??
any ideas, leads, help would be greatly appreciate :)