" One needs the skills, the funds and the time to make meaningful improvements."
Totally agree. As kids are going to college, I’m finding myself more challenged regarding the funding part. I’ve done a ton with room acoustics, measuring, experimenting, including buying and making acoustic treatments. At the end of the day, though, it takes money to try higher quality things -- or different things at the same level of quality. (Case in point: I am interested in trying much more sensitive speakers, the Cornwall IV's. These are not more expensive than the speakers I own, but even used, they are equal in cost to mine.) We might not even be taking about components; we could be talking about kits. But even kits, to be decent, are not cheap. Good parts cost money, good used gear costs money, good treatments cost money, etc. Anyone who claims it can be done on the very cheap is just in denial.