@three_easy_payments
While I'm a huge proponent of applying smart room treatments I don't believe the room should fail to influence the sound at all. That's what's implied by suggesting the best sound you can get from your room is benchmarked at extreme nearfield listening. Yes, get bass adsorption, yes get good diffusion, and eliminate wretched slap echo --- but it's OK to hear some influence by the room! We don't want to be listening in an anechoic chamber. It's pleasing for a little liveliness to enter the sonic picture...and yes, you can certainly overtreat a room.
Thanks, I couldn't have said it any better myself, so I just copied and pasted.
I went through it my self. I treated my room, went too far and had to back off a bit, until things finally sounded right, at least something close to a live performance - minus the ear shattering volume. Now, to me, it sounds good, whether, standing, setting or on or off axis. A little closer to or a little further back - still sounds very good.
Listening to music in an anechoic chamber, it is completely dead and lifeless and sounds nothing like what you hear in a music hall, theater, lounge or chapel.
I understand where Erik is coming from - at least it's a place to start. Each room and system is different and sometimes takes a bit of work to get things right.