First, the room makes by far the most significant contribution to sound quality (with exception of near field and headphone listening). so discounting room is the a first order mistake.
Second, I listen to music not test records. A good system makes an average record sound good. There is much more variation amongst recordings than there is between system tweaks. So I don't sweat it too much, listen to more music.
I got Paul McGowan's book and test CD. The problem is that the bass test track is played horribly out of tune, so just painful to listen to. And then the phase track did not do anything only to learn that it does not matter in many situations/to many listeners. Total waste of money and time. I learned my lesson and ignore test tracks.