I really look for a speaker to come with little need to EQ, these days. Modern design and components OUGHT to be able to make something that is flat-(ish) by design. When it isn't, nowadays it boils down to some serious cost cutting by the company, on R&D and manufacture.
For instance, I have long held that the Bose 'low-mid' hole (thank God some Bose owners are willing to talk about it, now, rather than just muscling up and getting all defensive
) is an intrinsic part of the design. I mean, those are tiny little speakers with a ported sub. There's no way that design comes out as flat to start with...
The thing about EQ-ing flatness into a system that is NOT is that you lose headroom and cleanliness (at louder volumes) as frequencies are having to be boosted artificially to compensate, stressing power amps and other parts of the signal chain more than they need to be if the system was flat to start with.
BTW, Fran...
Having gone through the corrective EQ part with the Bose system with your Roland, is there a readout to tell you exactly WHICH frequencies got boosted/cut, and by how much? This might be useful info for those with Bose and a traditional graphic EQ to try out...