The need for digital EQ can be minimised by choosing the right speaker for the room in the first instance. Some speakers are more focused and controlled in their dispersion, and don’t throw high frequencies around the room like a lot of speakers. If the bass issues are quite low down the frequency range, a smaller speaker can sometimes avoid exaggerating the issues to an extent. The more you get right from a set up and system choice point of view, the less you need to alter the sound using digital EQ - from an outright sound quality point of view, some room treatment is more ideal in order to preserve signal integrity.
I’m an advocate of digital EQ for subwoofers in home theatre systems, but minimal EQ application to the rest of the frequency range.
If a violinist sets up in a room somewhere for an event, do we then EQ him to make him sound as good as possible? Does the lack of digital EQ make the violin no longer sound like a violin? A violin will always sound like a violin regardless of the acoustics where it is played.