I got a new AVR, so I re-tuned my MiniDSP last night. The before and after response is night and day. I can't imagine a high octane HT bass machine w/o one. That said, the hpf is a given. Like others have said, don't worry if your explosions are x milliseconds out of alignment with the rest of the sound. You will never know it. (And I just can't bring myself to trust Audyssy, etc, auto-eq systems).