It's attention, not money, we should budget

@erik_squires

I’m agreeing with your premise. Establishing monetary metrics can get us "workable" results. Investing attention (time?) will get us better sonic results, for less money. The DYI reference was merely an example of time spent vs money spent to achieve a better outcome. Yes, there are other examples. But I’ve found, for example, a lot of music can come out of inexpensive and/or vintage drivers if you get things out of the way that make them sound worse.

@mahgister

I’m in the same camp with you on the "acoustics first" approach. Sometimes you have to work with what you have in front of you. We are involved in service and performance mods and bring up the subject of acoustics in every encounter. I think an element of the pushback is an unwillingness to change the decor in the room. Some of it is that acoustical panels are boring. They just hang on the wall and look at you. Not nearly as engaging as new gear, or "hot rodded" old gear.

I mentioned upgrading the cabling in my wife’s vehicle. I tried covering all that reflective glass with sound absorbent material. The back up camera worked well when traveling in reverse, but when moving forward the panels were a bit of an issue. So, if was on to "Plan B" -- upgrade the cabling.

My situation was the reverse situation of most people here...

I had no budget...

My only way to had an audiophile experience , once i settle on basic synergetical  gear pieces, was to study and experiment with acoustic , not only with passive material treatment but modification of the room physically and  with Helmholtz  tuned resonators grid and distribution and location  ...This opened my eyes about what is sound ... Nope, it does not come from the gear but THROUGH  the gear from some acoustic parameters chosen by the recording engineer of some album and the "sound" then comes TRANSLATED acoustically in my speakers/room/ears by my brain ...

Most people superstitiously believe as markeying indulge them to believe that amplifier or dac or speakers alone created the sound ... The costlier it is, the better it is as a motto ... This is romance marketing not science nor my experience ... Now for sure the gear choices matter a lot... But  Acoustics and psychoacoustics rule ...

I repeated that and people are annoyed because most people are as i am right now  limited in my room design...Happily when i was not so limited i learned not only how to hear better but the basic ... this truth is useless for half people because they feel captive in a living room with if not children a wife and they cannot really experiment nor understand the impactful scope of acoustic  ...

@mahgister

I’m in the same camp with you on the "acoustics first" approach. Sometimes you have to work with what you have in front of you. We are involved in service and performance mods and bring up the subject of acoustics in every encounter. I think an element of the pushback is an unwillingness to change the decor in the room. Some of it is that acoustical panels are boring. They just hang on the wall and look at you. Not nearly as engaging as new gear, or "hot rodded" old gear.

30% room might be good if you have a dedicated listening room, but I think it's a bit much for a room that serves a multitude of purposes.... 

@mahgister 

You should be very proud of what you've produced with what you had to work with.  I can't think of a more relevant response to the OPs topic. 

(My reference to acoustical panels covering the glass in my wife's vehicle was an "attempt" at light humor.  I hope you took it that way?)

My own car is driven by my wife because i really put some day  acoustic stuff on the window of my car and refuse to start the engine listening music... My wife forbid me to drive since  ...I dont like it anyway...😉

it is a joke with a grain of truth here ...