Going back to my youth, room nodes did not seem to be a big problem. This could be because you had two speakers playing the bass or because the speakers generally did not cover the 20-40Hz octave, or both.
Any thoughts/experiences with nodes above 40 Hz?
IME, much of it has to do with location, location, and more location. As far as I can tell by ear, and by the crude measurements I've taken, I've got reasonably smooth response across the range that my subwoofer covers at my listening position without any EQ. In my case, that was more luck than any sort of brilliance on my part. Still, assuming your room isn't an acoustical nightmare, reasonably good bass should be achievable if you're willing to fiddle with placement.
