I can't speak for AN's design - all sound is affected by the room it is placed in and where you sit in the room -- Just as is the case as sitting in different locations in a live concert changes the perception of the sound you get and just as having someone play a guitar in your bedroom or playing it in your living room or you kitchen. The room excuse for bad sound is a cop out which is why Audio Note never ever has a static display - this is not to say it won;t sound better in one room as opposed to another.

AN speakers sound like instruments period. When a speaker doesn't no room is going to help it - and when it does - it will sound like it any room.

The issue is that measurements are not telling us the truth about the reality of the sound eminating from the systems out there. Measurably SET is inferior to the point that many measurement worshippers don;t even or never have bothered to listen to the best examples of it. Listening to Bryston - a very fine example of what SS amplification has to offer --- certainly going by the measurements ---is roundly and easily beaten by a basic entry level Audio Note SE amp. Before TAH gets on me his beloved and world class expert Lynn Olsen agrees. --scroll down to world of triodes http://www.nutshellhifi.com/

But of course it actually matters that people stop reading audio geek and start listening to the music. But hey I'm not going back into the sub debate - the goal is to make you happy - if it does that -- then enjoy.