To Equalize or Not to Equalize

I’ve approached equalization from the perspective of wanting to hear the music how I like not necessarily how the artist “intended”.  I’m also, in general, not sure how to determine what sound the artist intended either.

The relay pots in the Max are great...I also have an original Freya with those and it's still perfect, way better than standard "wiper" pots.

Thanks for all the well thought out responses.  I appreciate that.  I have learned a few things to move forward;

1.  My room isn't going to change much any time soon.

2.  I need to get a better grip on just what is happening, how are certain frequencies bouncing around and what about the profile that I hear am i finding unpleasant.

3.  If I add an EQ, it will likely be a Schiit product.

4.  There is a wide range of perspective about sound/musicand it's reproduction in our homes.  I fall into the "if it sounds good - listen" camp.  I know that I will break a few laws going forward.

So with that in mind - I spent the weekend rearranging my room a bit.  I can't change the bones of the space or really add much treatment so I did an unconventional thing and moved my gear so it is now in a corner at 45 degrees rather than at one end of the room.  This allowed my to space my (floorstanding) speakers farther apart and a bit more into the room.  Also gave me I bit more flexibility with my listening chair.  I now form a better triangle and aim the speakers  about a yard behind my head.

This has really helped several things.  I don't notice many recordings to sound harsh as much, the soundstage is better, and I can recline my chair!

Having more room across has allowed my to put my old 2 channel speakers into my 5.2 video set-up as fronts.

Next step is to try and get a better picture of the sound profile and decide on what EQ may be needed.

I'll check back in and let you know when I wrap up...thanks for helping out.

This is probably not a helpful answer but my old ears have a natural high frequency roll off. You could just burn in your ears so to speak and then You high frequencies will be tamed. I used to EQ but now I don’t.  I enjoy using a EQ when I had one installed so I say why not. As to which one to get I have no advice as I haven’t tried any in a long time.

The scary thing is that I have been burning in my ears for over 50 years, since I was a teen.  A good part of that span was using headphones the majority of the time.  So I'm sure, like you, my ears roll off the highs and still I find them a little harsh sometimes when I crank the volume knob a bit.