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Anyone heard te Sony SS-AR1

I heard Sony's 27k new speaker today. Sony is obviously not a name you think of when it comes to high-end audio, but this speaker is sony's effort to get back into high-end audio. I'll be honest, going in, I thought anyone who spends 27k on a pair of speakers by Sony needs their head examined.
That being said, I was really, really impressed by this speaker. I compared it head to head with some dynaudio tempations (44k) and thought that the sony's at least held their own. The dealer told me that Sony is only planning on releasing 60 pairs in the US this year, and there are only 6 dealers in the country right now. Also, the wood that they use for the cabinets comes from a special Japanese tree that is specially aged, etc.
Apparently there is a review coming out in stereophile next week.
My question is, with all the great speakers out there at this range, Wilson, magico, Von schweikert, hansen, etc, has anyone heard these, and how do you think they stack up against some of the big boys?
dserota17
kr4's avatar
kr4
3,651 posts
 
July Stereophile
nmmusicman
276 posts
 
Heard them on 2 seperate occasions in very different systems at RMAF and both times the SS-AR1's more than held their own against the other big dawgs especially in the Kimber room setup in a multi-channel system.

Cabinet construction is up there with the latest efforts as the cut away demo that was on display last year at RMAF clearly showed. For those interested, go to Google Images and type in Sony SS-AR1... plenty of images there.

I too was skeptical with the Sony name being attached to 27k speakers but that was quickly dashed upon listening.
Of course, anyone with pockets deep enough to spend 27k on speakers should carefully weigh all their options but the Sony SS-AR1 should'nt be ruled out without a serious consideration/listen.
s7horton
1,077 posts
 
I have not heard them, unfortunately. Sony knows how to build a speaker when they want to. This is not the first high end speaker they have produced. They had a pair a number of years ago that carried an MSRP of $16,000 that was fairly well received.
peterayer
1,382 posts
 
I heard them in Ray Kimber's room with 4-channels driven by Pass X350.5 amps at RMAF 2010. On a male choral piece, it was the most convincingly real presentation I have ever heard. The room boundaries disappeared and I was in the church listening to those singers. Incredible.

I also heard them in a smaller room, but the system overwhelmed the dimensions of the room and it was less impressive. The cut-away cabinet sample showed real quality. IMO, these should be considered contenders in the $25K-$30K range.
cmalak
681 posts
 
Review in the Jul/Aug 2011 issue of TAS that just came out.
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