Room treatment is the best money you can spend.
In fact, many A/b tests on the Internet forums are only taken serious by me when performed in a decent room. I know quite a few persons that favoured component B over component A in their non-treated room. And once some room treatment is done, they went back to component A since suddenly it did not sound harsh anymore or whatever reason.
There are quite some DIY videos on youtube to get you going with absorbers and diffusers. Very easy to make and cheap (unless you want special print / pictures etc.).
In fact, many A/b tests on the Internet forums are only taken serious by me when performed in a decent room. I know quite a few persons that favoured component B over component A in their non-treated room. And once some room treatment is done, they went back to component A since suddenly it did not sound harsh anymore or whatever reason.
There are quite some DIY videos on youtube to get you going with absorbers and diffusers. Very easy to make and cheap (unless you want special print / pictures etc.).