Honestly the 'room correction' systems may not be as important as you think. Have you got a sound system in your room already? How is the sound?
No system can truly correct for poor room acoustics. The best they can do is mask some of the worst symptoms using equalization. A better approach would be to fix the underlying issues using acoustic treatments. These need not be excessively expensive.
If you go with this approach you can save money by getting a good used receiver or preprocessor that lacks these features but can still produce excellent sound.
yeah, I have little experience with all this new room correction stuff. I agree, speaker placement is key. Although, I also have little experience with "acoustic treatments". Are you talking about sound absorbtion panels, putting area rugs down, etc?
Right now my old system sounds pretty decent. Although I would like to put a big area rug down on the floor...it's all vinyl hardwood and the adjoining room is tile.