Is this a good idea? I'm pretty sure the Polk PSW10 doesn't hold a candle to the HSU VTF-1 but can the Polk PSW10 fill in some gaps possibly. I'm pretty much a newb to this and I don't have any measuring tools either.
Stang, if you are hearing bass cancelation as you walk around your room, then your sub is not located in the right place. Im guessing this is what you meant by gaps?
Jan, Good question as there may not be any because I have novice ears but on the otherhand I've read there are always gaps when you run one sub.
Nick, Sub sounds great but as I said above there could be gaps my novice ears don't detect. I also thought if the Polk PSW10 was good enough quality a sub near the back of the audience would be a bonus.
" ... if you are hearing bass cancelation as you walk around your room, then your sub is not located in the right place."
That's not exactly true. The room's peaks, dips and standing waves are determined by the room dimensions and will exist in any room no matter where the subwoofer is placed. The only rule here is the sub should be placed in a position that is not within a standing wave null point.
It also doesn't matter whether there are standing waves causing cancellations five feet into the room as long as your speakers or you don't sit in that location. If you choose to sit where a standing wave nulls the bass, it doesn't matter where the sub is placed; it's your seating position that's incorrect.
Put "subwoofer placement" into a search engine and read about multiple subs. One of the better articles on the subject, though somewhat technically dry, is the Floyd Toole research conducted for Harman International. If it doesn't show up in your search engine, you can access the paper through the Harman home site.
Driving the room with more than one sub is a good idea since it excites the various room modes differently when the subs are placed in unequal/assymetrical positions within the room. I have to say I don't personally think the Polk is a match for the Hsu product; but keep the Polk's level down and you'll likely have some success with both subs in the same room.
I'm actually running dual PSW10's in my HT setup. While there are not high-end subs by any stretch of the imagination, they rumble nicely while watching movies in 5.1 (5.2 in my case, I suppose). I find for music however, the subs are a little "sloppy" and not horribly musical.
I agree with everyone here for the most part. I think the only way to really find out is to connect it and see. As Jan said if I keep it low it may not intrude on the HSU sub which is a very accurate and musical sub. My intentions are to place the Polk Sub near the back of the room near the listeners just enough to keep the HSU subs location from being pointed out because regretfully my room is an open floor plan and the VTF-1 might almost be too small for the space it's in or just maybe I need to continue trying to set it up a little better...I dunno...btw don't get me wrong the sub sounds wonderful but just like my Polk R300 which sounded wonderful until I bought the RTi8 they now sound small in comparison.