Are there $n\times n$ real  matrices  $A_{1}, \ldots, A_{n}$  such that the $n$-homogeneous polynomial 
$$
f(x_{1}, \ldots, x_{n}) = \det(x_{1} A_{1}+\cdots +x_{n} A_{n})
$$ 
never vanishes on $\mathbb{R}^{n}\setminus\{0\}$?

I was listening to a seminar of a student, and a certain problem  boils down to this linear algebraic question. I know that if $n$ is odd then the answer is negative;  also if $n=2^{k}$ then the answer is positive. I do not quite see right now what happens for an arbitrary even $n$.  The first interesting case is $n=6$. 

I believe this should be something well-known.