@lindsayt I don't have a 'modernist room', it is a standard, nicely proportioned sitting room, carpets, curtains etc. and room correction makes a significant difference to the sound from my speakers - Rega RS7s and sub. It integrates the sub and main speakers seamlessly in a way that amps without Room Correction cannot and that is from my experience. If you have not heard room correction done properly then you are just speculating about what it can and cannot do. All rooms regardless of their design influences will exact an effect on the heard sound, they cannot not do that as there is no such thing as a perfect room.
If you want to hear the best then try listening to a Steinway Lyngdorf system with RoomPerfect and that definitely rates high end and some will say not bettered by anything else in their opinion on high end systems. Just because you have heard high end systems that do not have room correction doesn't mean they could not sound better with it and unsurprisingly more and more amps are now including this as standard as new models are launched.
Yes I have heard room correction done properly.
And no I am not speculating. I am talking from personal experience.
A prime example of room correction done properly was Terry's from the Pursuit Perfect System Youtube channel. When I visited, there was no doubt that room correction for his system in his room helped a lot when he switched it in compared to switching it out.
However his room was unlike any that I have ever had any of my systems in. The acoustic problems that he had in that room were ones that I have never had. His system at the time that I heard it was good with the room correction, but it wasn't quite high end by sound quality. It just didn't quite have the ability to put the musicians there in the room that a high end system (by sound quality) can.
He has continued to improve his system since I visited. However, if I were in his shoes I'd be looking to change his house and his speakers to see how high his system could be elevated to.
There is no doubt that room correction with my systems in my rooms would have less benefit than it had it Terry's system. Because the bass in his room sounded bad without the room correction. With the room correction it sounded better. But even with the room correction, the bass in his system wasn't as clean, tuneful, textured, toe-tapping and dynamic as what I get from Bozak Symphonies with no room correction in my home. My whole Bozak system cost less (when listening to CD) than what Terry had paid to add room correction to his system.
It would be bonkers for me to add his room correction solution to my Bozak system, because it would double the cost of the system.
My room and house is completely different to Terry's. And that will also play a part in all this. Horses for courses.
Most of the very best systems I've heard by sound quality have had very simple signal paths.
"
There is only one thing better than the best component money can buy, and that is no component at all."
Adding room correction adds a load of components to the signal path. You will gain a flatter frequency response. You will lose clarity / focus / transparency and dynamics. How much of each that you gain or lose will all depend.
If you listen to live music, especially acoustic instruments, the music doesn't suddenly become worse because you're listening to it in a room instead of outside or in an anechoic chamber. The acoustics of the concert hall or pub room will have an effect on the sound that we hear. But the ear brain soon compensates for that, and most of the time the acoustics don't detract from the listening experience.
We can all have different tastes on this, but I find a system-room with a non-flat frequency response and a reasonable amount of bass mode effects is perfectly fine to listen to - as long as it's not too bad.
As long as the frequency response is flat enough, other factors like transparancy and dynamics kick in. And those are areas that suffer by adding room correction. Especially when the system is based on a simple signal path.
Some people like to be members of the flat frequency response cult. I prefer to be a member of the dynamics and clarity (and low cost) cult.
My Atmos AV receiver has room correction. It sounds worse for music than my simple budget £300 stereo amplifier.
I've not heard the Lyngdorf Room Perfect gear in a proper bake-off so far. However, someone whose judgement I trust has. And he said it was quite disappointing. The Lyngdorf gear doesn't come cheap.
Having said all that, when I can justify the £1500 cost I intend putting together a 4 way DIY Frankenstein speakers with classic high end drivers from JBL, Altec and EV. And using miniDSP to blend them all together in an active room corrected set-up. And then seeing how that compares to passive, non room corrected form...