I did a little checking and in the area of affordable recently produced digital equalizers I came up with a geat audiophile grade equalizer in the DBX Driverack 260 for around $900. It has type 4 conversion and high end Dacs. The DBX Driverack "Studio" monitor equalizer was recently discontinued and is essentially the same equalizer as the 260 and can be had for around $350 with a $100 dbx measurement Mic included (normally seperate) if you are lucky. Look for the Mic included if you don't have one. These two DBX equalizers have the ability to automatically analayze your room and set roughly 26 channels at one time which you can then taylor to your own liking and save into memory. A cheaper but not quite as good but capable digital EQ is the Behringer Ultracurve Pro.
In the area of analog graphic type EQs with manual knobs several audiphile quality but older ones come to mind: Luxman from the 80's and Audio Control C-101 with series from 1 to 3 from the late 80s through early 90's and their lastly produced SE produced in about 1997 are available and also older ones from rotel. These older graphic type audiophile grade EQs can be had for around $100 to $220 depending on condition.
Yamaha and Harman Kardon though not quite as high end still have some EQs that are decent and produced in the 90s floating around. The only home EQ analog type that is currently made and commonly available is the AudioSource EQ for around $130 which is not to be confused with the high quality Audio Control EQ which was lastly made in the mid 90's sold in the area of $750.
Before spending alot of money on remodling your listening room or buying expensive cable I would take a serious look at the digital DBX EQs (260 or recently discontinued "Studio Monitor" - not the PA EQ) firstly or others as your budget permits. This DBX EQ is thin but has rack mounts on the end and you will need XLR cable or RCA to XLR adapters if you are not already using them. However it is small enough to put at the back of a shelf out of the way if you want. The improvement in your music from a quality EQ is night and day! Your ears may very well tell you the audio snobs who avoid EQs at all costs need to take a hike!
In the area of analog graphic type EQs with manual knobs several audiphile quality but older ones come to mind: Luxman from the 80's and Audio Control C-101 with series from 1 to 3 from the late 80s through early 90's and their lastly produced SE produced in about 1997 are available and also older ones from rotel. These older graphic type audiophile grade EQs can be had for around $100 to $220 depending on condition.
Yamaha and Harman Kardon though not quite as high end still have some EQs that are decent and produced in the 90s floating around. The only home EQ analog type that is currently made and commonly available is the AudioSource EQ for around $130 which is not to be confused with the high quality Audio Control EQ which was lastly made in the mid 90's sold in the area of $750.
Before spending alot of money on remodling your listening room or buying expensive cable I would take a serious look at the digital DBX EQs (260 or recently discontinued "Studio Monitor" - not the PA EQ) firstly or others as your budget permits. This DBX EQ is thin but has rack mounts on the end and you will need XLR cable or RCA to XLR adapters if you are not already using them. However it is small enough to put at the back of a shelf out of the way if you want. The improvement in your music from a quality EQ is night and day! Your ears may very well tell you the audio snobs who avoid EQs at all costs need to take a hike!