Room correction room system vs ears….

Don't spend any money upfront, first hang some rockwool (Home Depot, Lowe's, etc.) on the walls and see if that works for you. If it does, then to make it attractive you will know how much to spend and what to spend it on. Have fun!

I have been using digital signal processing since 1995. It works incredibly well for subwoofer crossovers, full range room control and speaker balance but it has it's limitations. Doing this right requires the right room with all early reflection sites dampened depending on the type of speaker used. You do not want the frequency response drifting more than 5 dB up or down or you will run out of amplifier power correcting the troughs and drop resolution dropping the peaks. Newer processors like the Trinnov Amethyst and the DEQX Pre 4 and Pre 8 are so fast that running out of resolution is no longer a problem at any volume. These units measure, with there own calibrated mics, the frequency response, timing and phase of each individual speaker and subwoofer. They then flatten the frequency response curve, and correct group delays so the the sound from each speaker gets to the listening position at exactly the same time and in phase. Some of then will then overlay a desired target curve. I then measure the main loudspeakers with an independent calibrated mic and make any adjustment needed to get their frequency response within a dB of each other from 100 Hz to 12 kHz. The result is spectacular imaging which is the first characteristic that other audiophile notice. 

Physical Room Treatments +1

Electronic Room Correction is a band-aid. It just covers up the problems and is Not a Permanent Solution.

OK, some good advice here. All rooms need treatment, it is paramount for good sound. EQ/DSP may help after getting the room sorted out. The problem with room correction electronics is they can't reduce the overly long decay of sound in an untreated room, how can they? They also can do nothing about the full nulls created when low frequencies recombine out of phase. It does not matter how much power you pump into the speakers the sound will just cancel with the same power.  Partial nulls can be boosted but if you try and correct for example a 15dB dip you will not have enough power. It requires a doubling of power to achieve a 3dB boost. Try doubling your amp's power 5 times!

When sound is left to decay naturally in a small space (the average room) detail is obscured by the confused and smeared sound. So determine the required time it takes for your sound to decay by 60dB across the full spectrum, known as RT60 or T60. The average room needs T60 to be about 300 to 400ms.

The thing to do is download a great free program REW and measure your room. You will need to buy an inexpensive mic. for the job. This can provide a CSD plot of your room showing the peaks and nulls. Yes, you will need bass traps. REW can help you best position your speakers and show the effect subs have on the performance. Multi -subs can and should be used to smooth out the bass response. The optimum would be to treat the room in combination with 2 or 3 subs and you will get to hear, probably for the first time, the music info that has been 'black-holed' by the nulls. Some who have heard of multi-subs envisage thunderous bass but properly placed and dialed in they enhance the entire spectrum from top to bottom. Think of them as tuning units.

WARNING: place a cushion between your feet in case your Jaw hits the floor 😁

I'm constantly amazed by before and after demonstrations at audio shows. I've since made it a point to always follow those demonstrations with a visit to an LP source analog demo where my shoulders never fail to drop and relax. Eyes rolling?

On the other hand it was suggested to use an Altec equalizer with my Octavium sub while dodging the draft and have been equalizing and optimizing subs ever since.