I used to armchair-quarterback room acoustic treatments from time to time, but having seen the quality of work that a professional can do, I have backed off because my advice would fall so far short. Getting the right kind of treatment in the right quantity and in the right place, without overspending on something you don't need or overlooking something you do, is well beyond my ability to diagnose and prescribe. The analogy I use is crossover design: anybody can put together a textbook crossover, but getting the RIGHT amounts of inductance, capacitance, and resistance in the RIGHT places for a particular combination of speakers takes a professional level of expertise. Likewise, getting the RIGHT amount of reflection, diffusion, and absorption (in the right frequency ranges) in the RIGHT locations for your particular room and budget takes a professional. Most of us (myself included) don't even really know where the goal posts are.
The general tendency among us non-professionals is to over-absorb the high frequencies, because it is very easy to absorb short wavelengths, and then do little or nothing that offers much benefit elsewhere. The result is far from a natural-sounding acoustic space. On the other hand room treatment done right can make your room not only sound great, but sound like it is much larger than its actual physical dimensions.
The money spent on getting the guidiance of a professional and doing your room treatment right is probably the smartest, highest-return money you will spend on your system. If you don't have someone in mind, I highly recommend Jeff Hedback, whose studio designs have won numerous awards and produced numerous Grammys, but whose work is still affordable. HedbackDesignedAcoustics.com.
Duke
The general tendency among us non-professionals is to over-absorb the high frequencies, because it is very easy to absorb short wavelengths, and then do little or nothing that offers much benefit elsewhere. The result is far from a natural-sounding acoustic space. On the other hand room treatment done right can make your room not only sound great, but sound like it is much larger than its actual physical dimensions.
The money spent on getting the guidiance of a professional and doing your room treatment right is probably the smartest, highest-return money you will spend on your system. If you don't have someone in mind, I highly recommend Jeff Hedback, whose studio designs have won numerous awards and produced numerous Grammys, but whose work is still affordable. HedbackDesignedAcoustics.com.
Duke