MOST expensive Home Theater EVER

[pixelthis]

Remember the guy , Kenis was his name or some such.
Supposedly had the "most expensive" HT in the world at around six million bucks.
Well, on a HGTV special this weekend titled MOST EXPENSIVE ROOMS his system
was featured.
Can't tell from his house, a rather plain looking split level, except maybe for the two
transformers , waist high, on concrete slabs in the yard.
HIS POWER BILL IS AROUND A THOUSAND BUCKS A MONTH.
A collection of MACINTOSH monoblocks, arranged in a circle, are the most noticeable feature.
The special doesn't mention brand names much, but its still worth a gander if you can
find it.
Wish I could find this guys house.....:1:

[Feanor]

Remember the guy , Kenis was his name or some such.
Supposedly had the "most expensive" HT in the world at around six million bucks.
Well, on a HGTV special this weekend titled MOST EXPENSIVE ROOMS his system
was featured.
Can't tell from his house, a rather plain looking split level, except maybe for the two
transformers , waist high, on concrete slabs in the yard.
HIS POWER BILL IS AROUND A THOUSAND BUCKS A MONTH.
A collection of MACINTOSH monoblocks, arranged in a circle, are the most noticeable feature.
The special doesn't mention brand names much, but its still worth a gander if you can
find it.
Wish I could find this guys house.....:1:
Probably your're thinking of Jeremy Kipnis. Some pics, etc., HERE (http://www.noiseaddicts.com/2008/08/jeremy-kipnis-home-theater-6-million/).

http://www.noiseaddicts.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/most-expensive-stereo-002.jpg
http://www.noiseaddicts.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/most-expensive-stereo-001.jpg

[Mr Peabody]

There's a local guy who has a pretty good set up but I doubt 6 MIL. He has a custom room with very thick concrete walls, no matter the sound level you can't hear the theater in the rest of his house. He has the $30k Krell processor with all Krell monoblocks, His speakers are all Dynaudio Evidence and several top end REL subs. I have not been fortunate enough to hear this but I sure would like to.

[kexodusc]

How's he keep the damn wires so neat looking?

[BadAssJazz]

TNFW!!!

Sorry, I like this hobby that we're in, but there's no f****** way that I'd shell out $6 mm for anything like that. But to each his own.

[bobsticks]

How's he keep the damn wires so neat looking?

Most of them don't appear to be plugged in to anything at all...

[dakatabg]

that is sick, don't you want to be at the middle of that room, sitting on the couch and enjoying the movie

[BadAssJazz]

that is sick, don't you want to be at the middle of that room, sitting on the couch and enjoying the movie

I. Honestly. Don't. Know.

I will say this much...it better be a good movie. All the top equipment in the world won't enhance a terrible plot/script/dialogue/acting/direction/effects/etc.

That said, I wouldn't mind using it for my Friday-evening-after-a-long-work-week-unwind sessions. Strictly music, though, and please do swap out the sofa for an Eames recliner and ottoman, or a chaise lounge. Beam me up, Scottie!

[kexodusc]

Someone should tell this guy they wired a speaker out of phase and changed the delay on two others just to piss him off.

[pixelthis]

Probably your're thinking of Jeremy Kipnis. Some pics, etc., HERE (http://www.noiseaddicts.com/2008/08/jeremy-kipnis-home-theater-6-million/).

http://www.noiseaddicts.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/most-expensive-stereo-002.jpg
http://www.noiseaddicts.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/most-expensive-stereo-001.jpg

Thats him.
His entire house can't be worth more than 300 grand. At least he has his priorities
straight.
Even the super tweeters(125 khz) get their own amps!
I personally think its camouflage, one day hes' gonna use those two gigantic power transformers to open a worm hole, and let the invasion begin.
REALLY THO, his setup wouldn't appear so rad without all of the Mac amps.
Thats what gives it the OHHHH factor.
Anyway, search your guide for million dollar rooms, certainly worth a look.
Theres' also a guy with the ultimate game room, and theres several more Home Theaters.:1:

[Feanor]

For you delectation: Kipnis' own website ...

http://www.kipnis-studios.com/The_Kipnis_Studio_Standard/Kipnis_Home_Theaters.html

The Robb Report?!? Guiness Book of World Records?? Oh, please, what a publicity hound, but guess that's the whole rationale.
http://www.kipnis-studios.com/The_Kipnis_Studio_Standard/Media/transparent.gif

[BadAssJazz]

I personally think its camouflage, one day hes' gonna use those two gigantic power transformers to open a worm hole, and let the invasion begin.

Wormholes? I'm thinking the Earth undergoes a geomagnetic reversal whenever he powers that thing up. Get ready to ride the solar winds, my friends. :3:

[Mr Peabody]

I'd spend it on that if i had it. I'd buy my own radio station first. Then my 2-channel system or systems, and the HT would be next. I think for HT I'd use some pro horn speakers though, maybe all Electro Voice with some folded horn subs.

[evilspoons]

The main tower speakers make me think there's some "compensating" going on here.

How much better is it than a $600,000 home theater room? I would venture a guess that it doesn't sound $5.4 million better. The screen actually looks too far away (not a large enough fraction of your field of view) but that could just be the wide-angle lens used for the photos.

Actually, now that I think about it I'd expect to see sound-deadening panels and whatnot on the walls. The bookshelves (are those books or vinyl?) don't look like they're very useful anyway with all that gear piled up in front of them.

[BadAssJazz]

Ok, now that the shock has worn off, I'm completely convinced that I would NEVER allocate $6 mm for that sort of thing. Complete overkill. Even if someone gave me a billion bucks.

And if someone gifted that to me, they'd better make sure to provide the gift receipts as well...because some of that stuff would be returned! Especially if my house was only valued at a tiny percentage of the gear inside it.

Good grief, Charlie Brown.

[pixelthis]

Wormholes? I'm thinking the Earth undergoes a geomagnetic reversal whenever he powers that thing up. Get ready to ride the solar winds, my friends. :3:

PROBABLY whats happening to all of the birds and fish.:1:

[pixelthis]

The main tower speakers make me think there's some "compensating" going on here.

How much better is it than a $600,000 home theater room? I would venture a guess that it doesn't sound $5.4 million better. The screen actually looks too far away (not a large enough fraction of your field of view) but that could just be the wide-angle lens used for the photos.

Actually, now that I think about it I'd expect to see sound-deadening panels and whatnot on the walls. The bookshelves (are those books or vinyl?) don't look like they're very useful anyway with all that gear piled up in front of them.

HATE TO SOUND like broken "vinyl" but of course it won't, because of the law of diminishing returns.
After 100 grand or so, you are only talking fractions of improvement.
STUFF like this is fun to look at, but a major part of a good HT is sleek design, less is sometimes more. THE new would wear off, and then how much fun would it be
sitting in a room that looks like "Clints HI-FI " blew up?
BESIDES, what about all of the starving audiophiles in CHINA?:1:

[Luvin Da Blues]

....
And if someone gifted that to me, they'd better make sure to provide the gift receipts as well...because some of that stuff would be returned! Especially if my house was only valued at a tiny percentage of the gear inside it.

Good grief, Charlie Brown.

So you would put demands on a GIFT????? Why not just sell off what you don't want/need.

Good grief, Charlie Brown

[pixelthis]

So you would put demands on a GIFT????? Why not just sell off what you don't want/need.

Good grief, Charlie Brown

Nice of someone to give it to ya, but why reinforce their bad choices? THAT is what return counters are for, and why I deal entirely in gift cards now. If someone gave me such a system
I would part it out soonest. One audio system, one HT, fewer and more refined speakers,
and a NEW JAG CONVERTIBLE, a NEW HOUSE, and probably NEW GIRLFRIENDS.:1:

[BadAssJazz]

So you would put demands on a GIFT????? Why not just sell off what you don't want/need.

Good grief, Charlie Brown

Selling is work. It's not much of a gift if you have to allocate your leisure time posting ads, fielding calls, dealing with potentially snotty low-ballers or shady buyers, etc.

Besides, I usually only get gifts from people who know me, my tastes and my penchant for streamlined functionality and efficiency over excess. Maybe in my youth I would have gone for the 20+ amps on the floor surrounded by Parthenon-like tower speakers in 360 degree array, but as a more mature gentleman I'd like to feel the experience without being hemmed in by the ever increasing technological sprawl. Just imagine what that thing looks like when wires are introduced. No thanks.

[E-Stat]

Most of them don't appear to be plugged in to anything at all...
The Macs are for show.

rw

[luckydoggoldminer]

It would be fun to try and reproduce a crazy theater like that. First of all the room has to be built. That could be costly depending on where the house is. A room some sixty by forty five, times two hundred a foot equals a half million in construction costs. The amps alone add fifty thousand. Speakers that sound good for a room that size would have to be custom made by say Vertec/Xtc of grass valley, ca,GUY VERALRUD is the worlds best speaker designer in my opinion. Or you could make up a speaker set up using many different brands.Either way the set up is going to cost at least a quarter of a million dollars to do it right. If you used old infinity 1bs with lots of tweaking and four pairs, that would be a start. Replacing all the crappy bass drivers in them would cost forty grand alone. Six custom Vertec 18'' sub woofers would be forty grand. The speakers have emits and emims no longer made so a large spare set would set you back twenty grand if you were able to get them. Then modify the crossovers in all the speakers to make them sound there best, again by Vertec would be at least fifty thousand. processors and source components would be another fifty grand. The wiring done smart would cost at least fifty thousand. A projector and screen would set you back a good fifty grand if you got a good screen. Add extra room detailing and light shows will cost a cool fifty thousand more. All in all it would cost at least one million for the room and system. The system would be at least as good as this one shown. More power to this man who put it all together. I would love the chance to try using all kinds of stuff! thanks for the pictures!:o

[pixelthis]

The Macs are for show.

rw

On the tv show it was stated that even the supertweeters(yes, supertweeters) had their
own amps. THERE was a shot behind the amps, they looked hooked up.
IF THEY ARE for "show" whats the two massive power poxes (waist high) for?.:1:

[E-Stat]

THERE was a shot behind the amps, they looked hooked up.
I was half joking, but perhaps you're seeing a pic that I am not. Here (http://pic6.audiogon.com/i/c/f/1289218057.jpg) is what the back of a 2102 looks like. As you can see, all of the cables attach from the top of the unit. The only photo that shows the rear of the amps that I find in the link is this (magnified and cropped) "aerial" shot:

http://home.cablelynx.com/~rhw/audio/2102.jpg

Do you see three sets of cables springing from the top of each unit and folded back down somehow below each amp through the floor? You would not want to bundle the power with either of the signal cables so you would expect to find two separate runs. Do you see any dark lines? Shadows?

rw

edit: I poked around and found a pic that did seem to suggest that eventually, he wired them! The cable morass is clearly evident here and you can see power cords emanating from the back panels of the Macs.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wvcp0LJM_HY/TA6vSMfdc7I/AAAAAAAAVIs/IV4wp60RoVc/s1600/Coolest_Home_Theatre+_21.jpg

[Nasir]

I think that my wife would have me committed to a high security mental home and spend the money on herself!!
BUT, if I had tons of money AND gave her half of it, maybe and just maybe she might let me indulge in my hobby....
For my power requirements I would have to move much further away from the Joint Headquarters of the Lisbon NATO base too..... I would NOT want to suck power away from the radars and their coffee room....
That reminds me, I had better get a LOTTO ticket tomorrow!!

[pixelthis]

I was half joking, but perhaps you're seeing a pic that I am not. Here (http://pic6.audiogon.com/i/c/f/1289218057.jpg) is what the back of a 2102 looks like. As you can see, all of the cables attach from the top of the unit. The only photo that shows the rear of the amps that I find in the link is this (magnified and cropped) "aerial" shot:

http://home.cablelynx.com/~rhw/audio/2102.jpg

Do you see three sets of cables springing from the top of each unit and folded back down somehow below each amp through the floor? You would not want to bundle the power with either of the signal cables so you would expect to find two separate runs. Do you see any dark lines? Shadows?

rw

edit: I poked around and found a pic that did seem to suggest that eventually, he wired them! The cable morass is clearly evident here and you can see power cords emanating from the back panels of the Macs.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Wvcp0LJM_HY/TA6vSMfdc7I/AAAAAAAAVIs/IV4wp60RoVc/s1600/Coolest_Home_Theatre+_21.jpg

On the HGTV show I watched they were hooked up.
JUST a theory, but maybe he took them off for a photo op. We all know how hard it is to
keep cables out of the way, and this guy seems a bit of a showoff.:1:

[Happy Camper]

Wouldn't all of us with that room?

[pixelthis]

Wouldn't all of us with that room?

ACTUALLY that room is demonstrating something that the owner probably doesn't realize,
and that is that he doesn't know that much about audio OR HT.
I saw a learning channel dec about lottery winners, one guy won 250 million.
A VERY NICE GUY, and his house looked like a trailer park blew up, or the worlds biggest
garage sale. Junk all over the place, give an interior designer a heart attack.
All you need for a very nice HT is a high end preamp/control center, two main amps
of very high quality(my preference) and slightly lesser ones for the surrounds(reverse that
if HT is more important to you).
TRUTH is that a well designed HT would be more enjoyable, easier to use, and about five mill less. This "system" is nice to look at, sure, but 90% of it is unnecessary.
Just because you have fallen into a ton of money doesn't mean you automatically are blessed
with good taste, sense, or HT knowledge .
HE OUGHT TO PAY out a hundred grand or so to a team that actually knows something about HT design. Instead of a 64 Impalla with tassles on the windows he could have
a TESTAROSSA.:1:

[Happy Camper]

......I see his room as a temple of a hobbyist that got FY money and went nuts. Yes you could get better with less but he got his swing rockin. Room acoustics.....phaw!!! Brute wall of direct sound will render kidney stones to sand but I get a kick out of the Wally World fan in the middle of all those tubes.

[(O0o*o0O)]

I wouldn't leave the house!

[Blied1995]

You should look at this post from some blog, they have collected 25 most expensive homes of the world.

25 Most Expensive Homes In The World You Never Knew (http://www.wordsiseek.com/expensive-homes/)