I need some sound deadening. If I touch the walls anywhere in the room it feels like I'm touching a speaker cone.
The couch is intentional. I looked at HT seats but I felt uncomfortable. If I wanted the real theatre experience at home, I would spill some orange pop and popcorn on the floor and get 2 people to sit in front of me and talk all the way through a movie.
Really nice vintage HT. I'm sure it has amazing SPL. I hope you have a huge room for all that high quality sound from big speakers.
You hit it on the head by talking about improving room acoustics. Things like double drywall, non-parallel walls, anti-reflective surfaces, bass traps, heavy carpet will help.