It’s already available in Japan, but Sony’s flagship SS-AR1 hi-fi speaker could soon be going global.

Sony SS-AR1

The company announced at CES that the 57kg speaker will be available in the US for the first time this summer, which means that it could be available in other territories soon.

The three-way floorstanders use specialist Haikodo maple wood for the baffle plate of the speaker enclosure, and have a highly crafted, hand-applied piano gloss finish.

There are four separate drive units with a 25mm soft-dome tweeter, 13cm sliced-paper cone mid/bass unit and a pair of 20cm aluminium woofers.

They have a maximum power handling of 200 watts, nominal impedance of 4 ohms, sensitivity of 88dB/w/m and a frequency response measuring 28Hz-60kHz.

The Sony SS-AR1 will be on sale in the US from the summer for around $27,000 a pair. UK pricing and availability details are expected to follow later this year.