Truth be told I experienced this effect recently
with a pair of Buchard S400 Mk2s at someone's home.
They went from Okay to Jaw dropping.
Maybe my jaw dropped because I knew how they
sounded in two other rooms and was shocked by the
improvement.
What gear were they using?
Finding out what your acquaintance was using would be where I would start.
So who uses this gear and what do I buy???
Your choices are a built in unit that does a lot for you, or a unit that has more of a DIY approach for tuning.
And at a kindergarten level, one has choices of more of a PEQ approach for frequency response, and more of the DIRAC for phase correction.
So there is a bit to consider.
Some ideas/examples to bound the field include:
- MiniDSP FLex using DIRAC
- Lyngdorf TDAI 3400 integrated.
With an integrated amp it might get harder, as the DSP usually sits between the preamp and the amp.
If one only has a digital source then it could sot between the DAC and integrated.
i.e. :
Balanced Power Transformer
I use an Innuos Zen 3 StreamerUptone Audio Etherregen
An ANK 4.1x DAC
It probably needs to go here for a full spectrum solution.
Pass Labs INT25
Fritz Carerra 7BE Speakers
But it could go here for a sub correction only DSP
REL T5X Sub
I would probably suggest you just get the microphone and REW. You will need the same UMIK mic for many systems (like all the MiniDSP), and a lot of processors that do it for you come with their own microphone… but having a mic is not a bad start.