Absolute top tier DAC for standard res Redbook CD

Matt, your intentions are clear and as others have stated, this is a significant undertaking. I am a redbook guy so I am very interested in your perceptions. Rather than taking your observations as "gospel" I think this will give us a feeling, direction or ballpark when looking at digital options. Your ears will sort it out....have fun!

Matt be sure and run some live acoustical analysis in your room rather than just using the canned mathematical analysis from the different acoustic treatment vendors. It does make a difference.

Matt sounds like a plan. I'm sure that you can get a satisfactory sound from the room. Those darn nodes are hard to fix and no room is perfect. All the best.

Matt, it is a gift to be truly enveloped in music. For so many people it's just background stimulation or a fond memory of a time or event in the past. Finding the right mix of performance, sonic attributes and electronic equipment is magical. The best times are when the emotions can well up and the tears fall. I can't imagine this world without music.

It seems that the best outcome is when you can do a full frequency analysis based on test tones and a microphone set up in your listening position. That being said, you still need to use you ears to dial in the listening room. All rooms have "problems" and the question is the sound from your speakers musical?

Matt you are correct on trying to do room treatments via internet room measurements is risky at best. It seems like there should be someone available that has room measurement software that can actually map the room to figure out where the nodes are from a frequency perspective. This would be the best starting point since you could then move your speakers around and re-measure then add treatments. Do you have any audio clubs in the area? They are a great source of information and help.

As I mentioned some time ago room treatments should be additive and have a "do no harm" mantra. You can spend thousands chasing acoustics and may never totally resolve your issue. Take everything out of the room, work on getting your speakers sounding decent by trying various locations, then add treatments.