>>Does a non-audiophile have to calibrate?
You do if you want to get the best of your system. It has pretty much been said above by Scott Campbell and Swampwalker. Your dealer has let you down IMHO. Standing waves (and the rest) are not BS. Set-up and tweaking is necessary for any high quality system. Without it you are just not going to get what you paid for. It is a like the Collimation process with a decent telescope. No sense paying for resolution you are not going to take the time to acheive. But that, it seems, is where you are at.
The nice thing is that if you dealer leaves you flat (apparently he has), you don't have to do it all at once.
If you are out of time now put it on the back burner and make it next summer's project or find someone else who has spent a couple decades in audio in your neighborhood.
I remain,
You do if you want to get the best of your system. It has pretty much been said above by Scott Campbell and Swampwalker. Your dealer has let you down IMHO. Standing waves (and the rest) are not BS. Set-up and tweaking is necessary for any high quality system. Without it you are just not going to get what you paid for. It is a like the Collimation process with a decent telescope. No sense paying for resolution you are not going to take the time to acheive. But that, it seems, is where you are at.
The nice thing is that if you dealer leaves you flat (apparently he has), you don't have to do it all at once.
If you are out of time now put it on the back burner and make it next summer's project or find someone else who has spent a couple decades in audio in your neighborhood.
I remain,