Is DSP room correction worth it with a high end analog system?

The system the OP is referring to was an all analog tube based system except for the digital crossovers. It was comprised of all REF Audio Research tube electronics, analog only front end and Apollo 12 active speakers. All crossover filters were digital. The processor we use has room correction capability which we used. The room correction (RC) should be called "signal correction for room compensation" or something similar. I have no doubt that part of what impressed the OP was due to the use of RC. The processor has powerful bass management tools. The rest of what impressed the OP was likely the very articulate and dynamic nature of the system. Our speakers are designed to work with DSP.

For some people signal processing seems to be an evil proposition. Maybe it is but from the first step of recording sound to playback through speakers there are dozens if not hundreds of processes that take place. Many analog and now many digital. I doubt anyone can say with complete certainty which form preserves music waveforms most accurately across the board. BTW, I listen to about 80% vinyl LPs.

"digitize the crap out of it" What does that mean? Once digital it's digital. There's no crap added, not by us anyway. 

Not all DSP is equal. Learn about and listen to high quality DSP controlled systems before you pass judgement. RC is just a subcategory of DSP.

We always suggest to our customers to use passive room treatment as needed if they can. High quality DSP/RC is much more than just EQ. It’s a mistake to think they are the same. Also, high quality DSP/RC corrects issues that passive room treatment cannot. they are different tools.

 I understand people who have digitalphobia, I know that I did. I was the last person in my circle to buy a CD player.

I understand. Most of us carefully choose our components. We buy them because we like the way they sound. As you said we pick them for a reason. I am respectful of everyone's opinion (well almost everyone's) and encourage people to use what they are comfortable with and what they like. I comment mostly to encourage people to be open-minded.

But that's part of my point. The DSP system in transparent. Along with providing all filters/crossover functions it's there to maximize speaker/room integration not to alter the sound. In my system I use small SET tube amps to drive the towers. I can change tubes, interconnects, speaker cables, DAC, preamp, cartridge or anything else and it's just as obvious as in an all analog no DSP system. Probably more noticeable. The front end is not being processed and is not in the RC loop. The amps are because the system must gain match everything. Think of it as speakers being custom built for a specific room.

Keep in mind that applied high quality DSP/RC works in both the amplitude and the time domains. Passive room treatment works primarily in the amplitude domain and is not linear. Don't get me wrong. I have always been a strong proponent of passive room treatment. My showroom is completely treated and I have been using passive room treatment at audio shows for about 20 years and will continue to do so.

At the recent CAF show many people were surprised (and a couple in disbelief) when I told them that at the hart of our all analog system was a DSP unit preforming all crossover functions and RC. Everyone I asked told me they couldn't tell.

BTW, The VPI JBL room with the JBL Everest speakers was using full on DSP/RC. The room needed help. RC made a huge improvement. Please read what people said about that room.

All I am really saying is that people should not make unfounded negative comments about high quality DSP/RC unless they have actually tried it. I'm not talking about free DSP software or cheat Parts Express DSP units. It's unfair to discourage open minded people from exploring other valid options.

secretguy, Sorry, I don't. 

Trinnov unit is not cheap but it's not $18K. It's priced just under $7K. It included all crossover filters, analog-in, digital-in and analog-outputs.

"tearing the music apart, ripping it literally to bits, manipulating and altering and stitching it back together again"

I always wondered how digital stuff worked.

mahgister, I applaud your work. Passive room treatment is very important and can be fun to do (or frustrating). We have been involved in many room designs. Every room is different and presents its own challenges. We enjoy the challenges.

Digital and analog room correction systems are just another tool.