Beep,
 
as you've already devine, the 1st thing to do is get the speakers in the optimum position.  Raise them up so your nearfields have unimpeded access to your ears.  A world of difference.  Books, stands, bricks, whatever.  The heavier the better.
 
+1 on Bit's suggestion. 
 
But the second cheap thing to do is dampen the area behind you, to attenuate those reflections coming from behind you.  The standard SOS suggesion for singing is to hang a duvet (quilt) behind your position.
 
Another cheap thing to do is make some bass traps.  If you are like me, putting together frames is another skill you might not want or have time to learn.  You should be able to find burlap bags for dirt cheap.  At the farm store I picked up a couple of big burlap bag - the ones I got were stamped for coffee.  They were 2-3 dollars each.  Pick up some corning (pretty cheap too) and just lay it in the bag, fold the top and staple it closed (you don't want the itchy stuff floating around).  You can put those up on the walls/ceiling etc.
 
Even a special built room and tuned is a compromise.  Turning a spare apt. room into a recording space is even more of a compromise, but it doesn't (usually) mean having to put up w/ a bad room.  You can get most room acceptable with a little aborption and reflection if you use nearfields.
 
@
 

John T
If you've got no budget to work with, attention to the basics can work small miracles. Are your tweeters at ear level? Are your speakers firing down the length of the room, rather than the width? Is your listening position in an equilateral triangle with the speakers? Do you have something (anything!) acoustically absorbent at the ear level reflection points from the listening position?

I may have missed this somehow, but I don't think you've said what the dimensions of the room are...?
 

John T
Your advice about the speaker position in relationship to the room dimensions are right on, as well as the listening position being in an equilateral  triangle(very, very important!).
 
Also mentioned here is another very good point: and that is NOT being setup in a corner of a room as a listening or mixing position! I ran that way for years until I read somewhere (sorry I can't remember where) where that is a BIG, BIG ....NO, NO as to where you want to be listening to your music.
 
After I changed my listening position, the amount of issues that I had while listening greatly diminished.
My listening position is now setup on the long dimension of the room and away from the back wall about 
a third of the long dimension. Hope that , that makes some sense.

Guys, just stopping in to thank you for the suggestions. I am totally burnt today but I have been reading this all and getting ideas. I'll give more details when my brain is working a little better.
 
For now though I've got a couple solutions I think I can do with what I have in the apartment. I measured one set of stereo speakers I have and if I line the back of my desk/table with them they will give the monitors a significant height increase and with a book or two under them they should be at the right height. Also by doing this I can get my flat panel screen up to a proper height as well (I really am ridiculously tall... seriously it's a problem when dealing with this type of thing) and have a second set of speakers if I set up one of my power amps (which I needed to do anyway). The fleece blanket pinned to the wall has helped with the reflections a bit but because of some of the suggestions here I think I may also pin/staple some old t-shirts underneath it directly behind the monitors as well to absorb even more sound coming straight out the vents. As far as separating them from the floor this is a polymer folding table so there are only four small contact points to the floor and I have a carpet underneath it. I also use small custom cut pieces of insulating rubber flooring underlay (the nice stuff type you'd use under wood laminate) under the monitors to absorb vibration. The sound really doesn't travel to the floor at all as far as I can tell.
 
Aside from that I've already concocted all sorts of weird draping type scenarios and stuff but they will require curtain rods and material. I've found panels of film blacks which are pretty slick for doing this type of thing on amazon and elsewhere for decent prices but that's dough as are building traps/baffles... and I have very little of. I'll probably just keep trying to deaden the room as much as possible with whatever I can get my hands on. It's a small room and I've got it crammed with gear so even if I can just cover stuff with blankets that might help.
 
I could try to say more but man... I'm spent. 2 hours sleep makes Beepster crazy/stoopid. :-/
 
Thanks again.

Hey Beep, I bought some monitor isolation pads called Mofo Rizers from a place called nextacoustics. Supposedly started from an ex Auralex guy. The way these are designed allow you to tilt the monitors upward or downward. They're really pretty decent. And they're pretty cheap too. When I bought them, they had this sampler deal where they sent you little samples of their foam and the Mofo Rizers for like $29.99. It might be worth a look.

Here's the link
http://www.nextacoustics..m/mofo-rizer-sample-kit/

Thanks... mind's a puddle of goo today though. Can't make think. Sorry, guys.

Understand. Go get some sleep!

I can't or I'll f*ck up my cycle. Took me years to get my sleep issues under control. This is an awesome place but the soundproofing between the party walls SUCKS. :-/

Del

John T
If you've got no budget to work with, attention to the basics can work small miracles. Are your tweeters at ear level? Are your speakers firing down the length of the room, rather than the width? Is your listening position in an equilateral triangle with the speakers? Do you have something (anything!) acoustically absorbent at the ear level reflection points from the listening position?

I may have missed this somehow, but I don't think you've said what the dimensions of the room are...?
 

John T
Your advice about the speaker position in relationship to the room dimensions are right on, as well as the listening position being in an equilateral  triangle(very, very important!).
 
Also mentioned here is another very good point: and that is NOT being setup in a corner of a room as a listening or mixing position! I ran that way for years until I read somewhere (sorry I can't remember where) where that is a BIG, BIG ....NO, NO as to where you want to be listening to your music.
 
After I changed my listening position, the amount of issues that I had while listening greatly diminished.
My listening position is now setup on the long dimension of the room and away from the back wall about 
a third of the long dimension. Hope that , that makes some sense.

 
This works for me.
Walt

WallyG

Del

John T
If you've got no budget to work with, attention to the basics can work small miracles. Are your tweeters at ear level? Are your speakers firing down the length of the room, rather than the width? Is your listening position in an equilateral triangle with the speakers? Do you have something (anything!) acoustically absorbent at the ear level reflection points from the listening position?

I may have missed this somehow, but I don't think you've said what the dimensions of the room are...?
 

John T
Your advice about the speaker position in relationship to the room dimensions are right on, as well as the listening position being in an equilateral  triangle(very, very important!).
 
Also mentioned here is another very good point: and that is NOT being setup in a corner of a room as a listening or mixing position! I ran that way for years until I read somewhere (sorry I can't remember where) where that is a BIG, BIG ....NO, NO as to where you want to be listening to your music.
 
After I changed my listening position, the amount of issues that I had while listening greatly diminished.
My listening position is now setup on the long dimension of the room and away from the back wall about 
a third of the long dimension. Hope that , that makes some sense.

 
This works for me.
Walt

lol... I wish. Nice set up. Sweet squeezebox too. One of my long time bands is accordion heavy. Confusing instrument for a guitar player so I just leave that up to my friend. I doubt it would be very good for my back.