2nd Subwoofer Question

[Riddler The Slag]

A friend of mine suggested I get a 2nd subwoofer for my theater room.

My question is this. With my Polk PSW110, do I really need ANOTHER subwoofer?

Personally I feel it might be overkill.

All comments welcome. Give me your pro's and con's.

[bigshot]

Are you finding uneven bass coverage in your room at sub bass frequencies? Hot spots, dropout spots?

[nonametofame]

I used to only rock Polk subs for about 10+ years. But I didn't get the real visceral punch of a sub until I upgraded to the likes of Hsu, and SVS.
Recently, I went with 15" Klipsch subs that were at a very good price. I ended up buying 2 because the deal, but the second sub really wasn't necessary. It added a little more headroom, but it mainly helped fill in some gaps for multiple listening positions.
I would invest in one significant, hard hitting sub, versus trying to go for a dual setup.

[FIshda]

get another one,there is no such thing as overkill in HT.

[gotmule]

It really depends on you and what you are looking to get out of your system. For some, a 10” sub is fine, as it provides the effect they are happy with. If you are looking to improve the quality of bottom end in your room, either to overcome some acoustic challenges or to provide more of an impact, then a second sub would be a good option to pursue. Before you take that path however, you want to make sure you are maximizing what the Polk could do in your current setup. Is it placed in the optimized position for best bass response in the room? Is it calibrated correctly? After those questions are answered, and you still are curious, it is not too difficult to get a second one to audition, as a lot of manufacturers and retailers will allow you to try out and return if necessary.

There are a lot of folks on this forum who are advocates of multiple (and usually large) subs, with me certainly being one of them. I would never have it any other way.

[bigshot]

The only reason to get a second sub is to fix null points in the room. You can calculate which frequencies would be problematic by using the dimensions of your room. There are calculators for that online. If the room is large enough the null points will be pushed down to so low a frequency it doesn't matter any more.

[gotmule]

Originally Posted by bigshot

The only reason to get a second sub is to fix null points in the room. You can calculate which frequencies would be problematic by using the dimensions of your room. There are calculators for that online. If the room is large enough the null points will be pushed down to so low a frequency it doesn't matter any more.

There are more challenges than just null points in a room. There are several audio engineers who support the notion of multiple subs. Dr Floyd Toole would be a solid example of someone who has been in the industry for awhile, and is certainly looked to as someone who knows his stuff. Pretty interesting read.

http://www.audioholics.com/room-acou...-multi-sub-sfm

[Riddler The Slag]

So Here is the basic layout.

My sub is about 3 ft to the left of the center channel and 4 feet from the left front speaker.

If I WAS to get a 2nd sub, would I put the Polk 10" in the rear of the theater and add a more powerful sub to replace where the current sub is?

*This is the sub I have been having my eye on just having trouble pulling the trigger until I get my year end bonus.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074131NKS...IHJL5TCL&psc=1

[gotmule]

Originally Posted by Riddler The Slag

So Here is the basic layout.

My sub is about 3 ft to the left of the center channel and 4 feet from the left front speaker.

If I WAS to get a 2nd sub, would I put the Polk 10" in the rear of the theater and add a more powerful sub to replace where the current sub is?

*This is the sub I have been having my eye on just having trouble pulling the trigger until I get my year end bonus.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074131NKS...IHJL5TCL&psc=1

The more common practice would be to go with the bigger more powerful sub up front with the smaller in the rear of the room.....but I have heard of a couple of folks who prefer the bigger of the two behind a seating area. I would start with the BIC 12” up front and see which you prefer. I don’t know if it possible in your room, but you might want to experiment with placement also. A lot of applications have a sub sounding best in a corner, so don’t assume that the BIC will sound best where you had the Polk. Congrats on the year end bonus!

[GunZenBomZ]

Yes, both of my set-ups will have two subwoofers. You are then spreading the brute-force effect of them & can lower the boundry-gain. Some people even go for four with massive HT setups.

[Dwayne]

Originally Posted by Riddler The Slag

So Here is the basic layout.

My sub is about 3 ft to the left of the center channel and 4 feet from the left front speaker.

If I WAS to get a 2nd sub, would I put the Polk 10" in the rear of the theater and add a more powerful sub to replace where the current sub is?

*This is the sub I have been having my eye on just having trouble pulling the trigger until I get my year end bonus.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074131NKS...IHJL5TCL&psc=1

My set up is very close to your's as far as the distance to the center and floor standing front's. I own the Polk 10" sub you speak of and 8 months ago I purchased the first series of the Bic Acoustech 12" PL-200 sub with no regrets at all. The only difference between the one you are looking at compared to mine is the newer version has 2 bass port's in front as mine has 1 large bass port in the rear. Adding a second sub is certainly not overkill at all. My room is approx. 25'x20'. I have more than enough floor standing tower's in the front and rear to fill my area full of sound along with my Denon 4520 AVR. I was very unhappy with the Polk 10" sub not getting the job done so I then started researching on a second sub that could help on a limited budget. When I learned that Dr. HSU himself designed the PL-200 sub for Bic, that alone with the price told me to purchase one. I placed the new PL-200 in front and moved the Polk behind the seating area. Wow is all I can say about this new sub. It completely changed the dynamic's in my LFE effect. The 12' PL-200 is no SVS sub, but for the price you will not be disappointed at all. Go for it!!!!!!

[ROSS.T.G.]

Dual subwoofers is always the way to go. I had smaller dual Paraigns for years and last year I sold them and picked up and SVS. Plays much deeper but I miss the 2nd for dead spots. Luckily my wife bought me a second SVS for Christmas. Can’t wait have dual again.