Hi Arnie,
When you say that a smaller listening environment will "not allow the full potential of the Rockport Arrakis 2 to be realized", I have heard some debate from various people who know these speakers about exactly how small a room these mighty speakers can take.
Specifically, a lot of big speakers may not sound their BEST in smaller rooms, but:
1. they CAN be placed in those smaller rooms for those who may be using them for a 1 or 2...but know their medium term goal is to get a bigger space or move (and wish to get the dream speaker now...sometimes they're on sale, or on demo and the price is right). Wilson X1s/X2s are good examples of big speakers that have been designed to get to a listening distance of 8 feet, for example, and I am told by numerous individuals have worked well, when properly set up, in smaller rooms than yours (10x12x8).
2. even when not in an optimally large room, larger flagships can STILL sound better than the next speaker down the line just because of their sheer limitless in dynamics, effortless/ease...
by any chance, do you happen to know if Rockport recommend a minimum sized room for the Arrakis due to its sheer size? I suspect for some people, if they can squeeze them in their current listening room, they might prefer to buy the Arrakis on the basis: 1) the Arrakis may not be optimally set up now...but will be when they move, 2) the Arrakis' still sound better than the Altair 2s would in the same room.