[aceinc]

This thread is meant to be a multi part exploration of creating an acceptable listening area for mainly two channel listening.

I have a space to create a listening room. It is the living area of an efficiency/1 bedroom apartment attached to our house. The exterior walls are sheetrock over CBS block, the windows are impact resistant, the floor is porcelain tile over a concrete slab. The main dimensions are 13' x 19' x 8'-9" ceiling with a small kitchenette and short hallway to the bed/bath. There is a laundry room and CBS block wall between this space and the main house.

My initial acoustical treatments will be furnishing/home decor. The windows currently have 2" wood slat blinds. I have ordered an 8' x 10' rug for between the listening positions and the system. I have ordered a 3' x 5' rug for behind the listening positions. I have 2 - 96" x 52" blackout curtains to hang for each of the 3 windows. I have two fabric chairs for listening.

My intention is to use REW to measure the room as I progress through my journey to make the room suitable for my needs. Once I reach the point where I have all the furniture, rugs, etc. in the room, then I hope the assembled wisdom of this group will help me finish it off with recommendations for true room treatment as needed.

My goal for this room is to use it to test various two channel & multi  channel systems which have been building up in my "inventory." What would you call the material a hoarder has accumulated? Inventory sounds polite and purposeful.

For the initial REW scans I will be using an older NAD stack with a pair of rear ported tower speakers. Once I have things measuring and sounding reasonable, I will bring in other gear including tube amps, Mac Amps, dipole speakers and horns for testing.

The initial placement of the speakers is with the front baffle centered 32" from the front wall and 20" from the side walls.

Here are a few pictures of the space; If someone can tell me how to rotate the images (step by step), I will.

Ignore the little speakers in the upper corners of the room. I put them up there 30 years ago and I haven't tested them in at least 20.

[AllanS]

Best of luck on your journey!  You know with this crowd there will be no shortage of advice - some of it may even be conflicting
I very much like the measure as you go approach.  I started measuring after adding a room treatment starter pack.  Had I taken the time to understand the problems first I likely would have taken a different approach.  Honestly I think purpose built room treatments ought to be the last step, including any DSP.
If you’re not real familiar with room acoustics and REW, I’d suggest investing ample time into understanding.  There are countless sources for acoustics .edu. 
Acoustic Geometry is a favorite https://acousticgeometry.com/videos/?_gl=1*bkwc7h*_up*MQ..&gclid=Cj0KCQjw7ZO0BhDYARIsAFttkCjMY6ZZKHwTk4lZlgBqELYy6Wbr_lmFb9As3rhJhHQj-uHqkF8S1dwaAtEHEALw_wcB Matthew Poes is a great resource as well as AV Nirvana https://www.avnirvana.com/threads/some-guides-to-rew-and-acoustic-measurement.121/page-2.
Though my experience proved to be less of a concern than expected, I’d still be cautious about using one set of speakers to define and/or set up the room and expect a different set of speakers to play well. Different speakers may load the room differently, especially if going from box to open baffle.
Take your time and remember to come up to breathe occasionally as you burrow deep into these rabbit holes!

[aceinc]

I have added carpet and curtains. I took REW measurements along the way.

Here is what the room now looks like;




Here are Spectrograms from along the way;

Empty Room;


Carpet Only;


Carpet with Curtains (open);


Carpet with Curtains Closed (The picture above);