Okay, I am going to out myself a little bit. I own a company which rents and sells SLMs, FFTs, RTAs, various spectrum analyzers,etc. As far as the perfect measurement and alignment goes, you would use a sound source like a Bruel and Kjaer 4204 or 4205, measured by a Real Time Analyzer with at the very least 1/3rd octave analyzer and preferably a 1/32nd with a calibrated preamp and microphone. The sound source has known values in an anechoic chamber and the frequencies it puts out are compared via the RTA to the ones measured in the free field. I cannot count the number of times I have seen "acoustics experts" not even make corrections for the pressure response curve of a measuring microphone above it's actuator drop-off value(the difference between using an electrostatic actuator directly on the diaphram and the actual response of the microphone in air) which is over 10dB oftentimes at 20kHz. Once the room is defined, then one would do whatever you could to equalize the room nodes, before even starting with the speakers. Ideally one would feed two channels of 1/4" microphones into a test torso at the listening position. Once the room was treated appropriately, one would use full spectrum pink noise or even better, a continuous swept sine wave with relatively high harmonic content, averaged, on auto-continuous, and watch the display as one moves the speakers, chair,etc for a better reading.
However, it is well known that most people do not pschycoachoustically "like" a flat response. (read Gundy curve) When one has a rectangular room, any number of simple programs will project the room nodes with great accuracy, and it is well known that the first reflection of the tweeter is very important to ameliorate. I have found that when I have measured friend's room, if the bass nodes are taken care of, reflective surfaces are minimized, and the first reflection of the tweeter is absorbed, the rest is generally up to user tastes. The biggest problem my staff sees when we help friends, is that generaly the speakers are just waaay too close to the rear walls. The confusion in sound propagation caused by that, or by setting the speakers in a null spot, are terrible.
I see Bruel and Kjaer 2032s, 2033s,2133 and 2144s on ebay for under a grand, preamps and microphones for less than a few hundred, if you really really want to maximize your room/speaker interface, seems like a cheap price to pay relative to most people's systems.
It seems to me like people who want you to spend 50 grand (dealers and manufactureres) on a pair of amps would spend a few thousand to help ALL of their customers maximize their listening experiences. In my opinion, considering they might have to buy one unit, it would be a small, teeny tiny little cost. On the other hand, the experienced guys dial in speakers pretty well without the measuring devices, but dang, if they are gonna make a big deal about 1db difference in an amp response, and there are room nodes of 15dB, it sure wouldn't hurt them to have this stuff.
I do high end audio
for fun and a hobby, which is why I have been loathe to comment on these types of forums. This is my getaway from work, I will be more than glad to help my fellow audiophiles where I may, which is a joy to me. I want to stress though, that if you are in my area, I'll bring some audio measuring toys over for fun to help, but I have no desire to take a dime from anybody in this hobby. (unless, of course, I am selling my used audio components) :):)
