Should I improve differently exposed RAW images before I use them in an HDR-program?

[PureRumble]

Hey!

The differently exposed RAW images that I use to create HDR-images in programs like Photomatix Pro... do you guys suggest that I should improve (sharpness, contrast, white balance, color balance, ...) the RAW images BEFORE I use them as source images in the HDR-program?

I ask this since it has come to my knowledge that programs like Lightroom are capable of saving an image in RAW-format. Then I should (in theory) be able to improve the RAW-images before I use them as source images, right?

THX for all input from you guys!