Sony's US headquarters is located in a suburb of San Diego. They were gracious enough to invite our local club, the San Diego Music and Audio Guild, to a private demo last weekend. We were told they had installed a custom sound room but that turned out to be just a converted office space (maybe 12 x 18) with a typical office dropped ceiling. Even in that much less than ideal environment their speakers showed great promise.
Several Guild members had attended THE Show at Newport Beach last summer and heard the SS-AR1s in a much larger and more appropriate room so we knew their full potential was not being demonstrated at the Sony facility.
Dserota, as your pair breaks in and you refine their placement in your room I must believe you will be very pleased with them.