Wow, Serenity! That was an eye opener. I have my Yamaha M80 and Antique Sound Labs tube amp maxed, and control volume with the Sonic Frontiers SFL-1 preamp. For some reason, long forgotten, I figured that was the right way to go. I have to do some sperimenting!
Yo Thasp, I did some wandering around Al Gore's Interweb and read a couple of articles about DIY room treatments from folks who sure sounded like they knew what they were talking about. I went with Roksul (Roxul?) because I didn't want any fiberglass in my living room even if it were 'bagged.'
The treatments really help. I put some antiqued brass remote controllable picture lights on top of the panels and they sure look good.