In a lot of these threads people say without the room being treated

WAF factor ! Someone once posted about having Magnepan 20's in a living room and not having the wives approval to hang some treatments on the walls . Almost died laughing . Having giant maggie speakers Taking up valuable floor space out in the room was o.k. , but something on the walls . no way . Treatments have been better than most electronic upgrades for myself .

You can do whatever you want with a room. When the electronics sounds awful, the result will not become better. Audiophiles with cash still believe that a dead cow can be transformed to a race horse... each his own.

My room has no treatment and it sounds fine. I listen in the near field with my head’s distance to the rear wall less than the circumference of said head, minimizing any reflections, obviating the need for sound absorption panels, which wouldn’t fit kindly in my room anyways.

It’s what spelunkers do when lost in a cavern; put your back up against the nearest wall and it becomes easier to locate the source of the sound. The ear/mind device ignores the secondary and tertiary reflections. It’s one aspect of the Haas Effect.

It’s a compromise but one I can live with. Besides, as syntax said, a bad system will remain so despite the endeavor.

All the best,
Nonoise

I have had 5 different rooms over the years and never used treatments and always got superb sound. I find that people who try treatments almost always over damp there rooms. Not a fan of room treatment
Alan

I would agree with Alan here.  I suppose if you had a dedicated listening room that was never used for anything else, then it might be worth exploring some treatment.  But for most of us, our systems are in our living rooms.  Usually, just playing around with where the rest of the furniture is located, and making sure there are no blank walls, etc. will do the trick, and adding room treatments  to an already crowded room almost always deaden the room too much.  I will also add that in many cases, people who have resorted to room treatments in a living room could have solved the problem with trying a different set of speakers.