Very useful discussion here, thanks to all for the interesting information.
I will soon move house, and will need to start from scratch, in addition, as my room will not be a dedicated playback room, I realize that there will be some compromises to be made. In general, I don't use music as a first indicator of how a room sounds, as the problem is that we don't have the reference for that particular recording. I use the human voice of a family member as a kick-off. (after carpet, curtains and furniture are in place). Let them talk/read at the other end of the room, and see how it sounds. let the room interact, and see how you like it. Although this will only reveal a small part of the frequency spectrum and the acoustics of the room, I believe this is a good start. Later play music, and see how highs and lows behave. I have used some software to measure room response, but will use my ears to decide. I will hear things different anyway than others, as our ears differ. I'm using line source speakers, with separate woofer towers. Now I do calculate a starting position, also because the speakers are quite heavy, not easy to move around, however will let my ears decide on the final position. (In fact, a lot is published on the internet on how to calculate the speaker position, but you will be surprised how different the advises/methods are). This all confirms that your own judgement will be decisive. In general I like the "Michael Green approach", as this is rather simple, and "acoustically building" a room step by step. Never fill the room at once, as by doing so you may have overdone it, killing dynamics. Anyway, I not so much into sound dampening, unless you are in a really small room. Lots has been said about room acoustics, and more will still be said. It's quite complex, there's not a simple formula on how it should be made perfect, but that keeps it also interesting.
I will soon move house, and will need to start from scratch, in addition, as my room will not be a dedicated playback room, I realize that there will be some compromises to be made. In general, I don't use music as a first indicator of how a room sounds, as the problem is that we don't have the reference for that particular recording. I use the human voice of a family member as a kick-off. (after carpet, curtains and furniture are in place). Let them talk/read at the other end of the room, and see how it sounds. let the room interact, and see how you like it. Although this will only reveal a small part of the frequency spectrum and the acoustics of the room, I believe this is a good start. Later play music, and see how highs and lows behave. I have used some software to measure room response, but will use my ears to decide. I will hear things different anyway than others, as our ears differ. I'm using line source speakers, with separate woofer towers. Now I do calculate a starting position, also because the speakers are quite heavy, not easy to move around, however will let my ears decide on the final position. (In fact, a lot is published on the internet on how to calculate the speaker position, but you will be surprised how different the advises/methods are). This all confirms that your own judgement will be decisive. In general I like the "Michael Green approach", as this is rather simple, and "acoustically building" a room step by step. Never fill the room at once, as by doing so you may have overdone it, killing dynamics. Anyway, I not so much into sound dampening, unless you are in a really small room. Lots has been said about room acoustics, and more will still be said. It's quite complex, there's not a simple formula on how it should be made perfect, but that keeps it also interesting.