I would have spent less money on a Meridian Reference Series system and put the rest of the money elsewhere.
The Greatest Show on Earth!
When it comes to home theaters, I thought I'd seen it all. But nothing's come close to this. First, I'm going to try to describe the sheer magnitude of Jeremy Kipnis' theater. His Stewart Snowmatte laboratory-grade screen is the biggest I've ever seen in a home, and in the back of the theater, there's a Sony ultra-high-resolution (4,096-by-2,160) SRX-S110 digital projector. I'm looking everywhere, jotting down questions, and Kipnis sounds almost giddy talking about his theater's capabilities. He refers to his baby, the Kipnis Studio Standard (KSS), as "The Greatest Show on Earth." And from the looks of it, he may be right.
While the KSS is technically an 8.8-channel audio system, it uses a lot more than eight speakers and eight subwoofers. Kipnis felt that a lone center speaker sounded a tad undernourished compared with the eight Snell THX Cinema & Music Reference towers, so he opted for three Snell LCR-2800 center-channel speakers. The original contingent of eight subs sounded "really good" but, unfortunately, didn't deliver the full earth-moving-under-your-feet effect he wanted. So, he wound up with 16 18-inch Snell subs! To balance the other frequency extreme, and for the ultimate in transient speed and transparency, the Snell speakers' treble has been augmented with MuRata ES103A super tweeters. Thus, from the deepest deep bass (10 hertz) up to the extreme high-frequency range (100 kilohertz), the KSS is the most full-range system I've ever heard—and felt. The speakers are fed by a well-balanced combination of audiophile solid-state and vacuum-tube amplifiers. The KSS is astonishing in the way it delivers power, but with 11,315 very high-quality watts on tap, that's hardly surprising. Not only can it play ungodly loud, the KSS sounds phenomenal while doing so and never hurt my tender ears. The theater is big but far from huge. Its vaulted ceiling ranges from 8 feet high at the rear end to 16 feet at the screen end of the room (which is 26.5 feet wide and 33 feet long). The 18-foot screen fulfilled my IMAX fantasies, and the projector's va-va-voom color and brilliant light were transformational. I just tried to take it all in as I scribbled notes, afraid I might miss some of the juicier details.
AC power conditioning for the KSS is, again, done to the max. Next to the garage, there are two mammoth General Electric 13,800-volt/800-amp step-down transformers; all of the cabling is audiophile-grade wire, and every aspect of performance and presentation is scrutinized, even down to the 40-amp cryogenically treated circuit breakers for each and every component in the system.
How It Came to Be
I first met Kipnis in the early 1990s when he worked for Chesky Records as an engineer/producer. And later in the decade, I followed his exploits when he started his own classical music label, Epiphany Recordings Limited. Hooked on video at an early age, he was the first on his block to buy a laserdisc player in 1980 and went on to amass a huge collection of players and discs. He watched them on one of the very first projectors in the market, the Kloss NovaBeam Model 1, with a 6.5-foot curved silver screen in his Redding, Connecticut, home, where he still resides. The projector's legendary inventor, Henry Kloss, was a neighbor and good friend of Kipnis' parents, so you might say the seeds of the KSS were planted long ago. The man's passions run deep. Kipnis tells me, "I've been watching movies since I was four on really big screens in movie theaters, and three years ago, those experiences inspired me to design a home theater with the absolute best picture and sound."
But it's more than that. Kipnis sees the KSS as a laboratory, an ongoing experiment to advance the state of the art. And it's not just for himself; he's dead serious about selling the KSS to movie-industry professionals and wealthy home theater aficionados. He sees his huge screen as an intrinsic part of the experience. "It's an unprecedented level of immersion that I'm looking for." The mix of brands and models for his customers' KSS systems will be site specific, and he imagines that, unlike his installation, the componentry and speakers will be stealthily deployed. The KSS pictured here is Beta Ciné, so yes, there's an even bigger KSS, the Alpha Ciné, in the planning stages. It's intended for much larger venues, such as screening rooms or perhaps even actual movie theaters. The Gamma Ciné will be a scaled-down KSS for smaller living rooms, bedrooms, or kitchens. The Gamma Ciné will likely utilize rear-projection techniques. (When not in use, the screen will look like a wall, and all of the equipment will live behind the screen.) The philosophy of all three KSS systems is the same—nothing but the best picture and sound. Price estimates will be site specific, but the cost of Kipnis' home system would be in the $6-million range.
Scaling the Heights
Setting up the Sony SRX-R110 digital cinema projector is a demanding job, and Kipnis has invested a lot of time into maximizing its potential, all in an effort to advance the state of the art. He's an Imaging Science Foundation–certified technician and studied with video-tweaking legend Joe Kane.
The Sony projector doesn't have HDMI inputs that are HDCP compliant, but it upscales Blu-ray and HD DVD players' component outputs to its native 4K resolution. So sure, it might look even better if he could use his HD player's digital outputs, but Kipnis feels the picture quality he's getting right now is "far more outstanding and realistic than any other movie theater I've experienced on the planet." Pressing the question about keeping the KSS' video all digital, he admits that he's also considering commissioning a custom-built scaler from Silicon Optix or Snell & Wilcox. The ultimate goal is to produce a picture that's an open window to the world.
With a bit of luck, Kipnis will get to play the KSS for the likes of George Lucas, Peter Jackson, Steven Spielberg, and Martin Scorsese. And who knows—they each might be so thrilled, they'll buy one on the spot. That would be great, but I wonder out loud, "Would you have done all of this if you didn't hope to turn it into a commercial enterprise? Would you have done it just for yourself?" Without hesitating, Kipnis says, "Just to see what's possible? Yes, I would."
For more information about the Kipnis Studio Standard, please visit www.kipnis-studios.com or call (203) 938-3767.
Partial Equipment List for the Kipnis Studio Standard Beta CinE:
Picture Elements:
Sony SRX-S110 Professional Video Projector
Stewart 18-by-10-foot Snowmatte 1.0 Gain Laboratory-Grade Motion Picture Screen
Players and Sources:
Sony BDP-S1 Blu-ray Player
Sony PlayStation 3 Gaming Console
Toshiba HD-XA1 HD DVD Player
JVC HMDH-5U D-VHS Recorder
SATA Drive (72 HDTV Hours Total)
Mark Levinson N° 51 DVD/CD Media Player
Pioneer HLD-X0 Hi-Vision HDTV MUSE Laserdisc Player
Surround Processing and Decoding:
Theta Digital Generation VIII 32-bit 8x Oversampling Dual Processors (13)
Amplification:
Mark Levinson N° 33h Amplifiers (2)
McIntosh MC-2102 Amplifiers (30)
Crown Macro Reference Gold Amplifiers (3)
Speakers:
Snell 1800 THX Music & Cinema Reference Subwoofers (16)
Snell THX Music & Cinema Reference Towers (8)
MuRata ES103A Super Tweeters (10)
Snell THX Music & Cinema Reference LCR-2800 Center-Channel Speakers (3)
»
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Comments
Submitted by jmack1215 on February 12, 2008 - 1:06am.
you guys would not bitch if this was all yours so fuck off and let the man enjoy his shit if hes got 6 mil to throw into that shit good for him fuckin haters i wanna see all of you donating to charity if you were rich its a lot different when the moneys in your wallet
Submitted by Nick on February 12, 2008 - 3:13am.
People spend what for 3 way 8800GTX sli that is some peoples yearly wage in a lot of countries. It's his money. He made HIS MONEY. Please tell me what to do with my money. I really want you to. And make sure you come over and knock on my door and tell me in front of my face. Not typing and scratching your ass eating a twinkie in the basement. Some of the stuff in his setup is pretty useless. 4k projector w/comp???? Yeah dumb. But again IT HIS money that HE MADE. 6 million? I would have a sick home theatre.
Submitted by Mike on February 12, 2008 - 4:32am.
All these stupid morons talking about starving children. Jealous idiots! Who says the guy didn't donate 1 million USD already? And what do you donate yourself? Do you donate $500 a month?You are all jealous pussies, just working your simple 9-5 jobs and bitching about money issues and starving children...start your own company, make a few million and donate it ALL! It's easy bitching at rich people through your F*cking keyboards.
Submitted by Digital on February 12, 2008 - 5:32am.
Nice concept, bad implementation. Seems as though it could have been done much better for much less; and a shipload of cash could have been spent on a separate building / shape / modified - as well as much better seating. I would have hidden all of the kit in another climate-controlled room as I hate seeing distracting lights anywhere when I watch movies. The current look is good for ego / bad for a non-distracting movie experience.Would have hidden or at least kind of
Submitted by Edemilson Lima on February 12, 2008 - 12:12pm.
>Wow...someone has a lot of cash, and needs to be donating it to charity, not spending it on rediculous "entertainment" systems.Everytime you give money to people, they become lazy and always wait for the endless help of people who works. When somebody spend a lot of money in something, in fact this person is distributing his/her money among the companies that manufactures these products. In their turn, they distribute the money paying emploeeys and suppliers. The money goes its way naturally and go soon or later to the hands of poor people that work for it. So, no money is really wasted. But if you give the fish, they eat the fish and ask for another fish. Better teach them to fishing.
Submitted by Don Van Zile II on February 12, 2008 - 3:41pm.
What kind of security system does this guy's house have? I would be scared shitless to leave my house with a 'warehouse' of equipment like this guy has. What kind of security system would be recommended that would give you 'peace of mind' when you occassionaly left your system to go out and enjoy other aspects of whatever life you have left outside of this showroom!
Submitted by Magnolia Salemens on February 12, 2008 - 5:37pm.
Most of you are just jealous that he has money to spend and you don't, get over it let the man do what he wants to do.And for those of you complaining that he's using only component outputs, STFU. You know nothing if you think HDMI is better then component. Component and HDMI is basically the same thing the only difference is 1 cable for HDMI and 3 cables for component (with the HDMI carrying sound). Component cables AND HDMI cables output 1080p, and if you would read more into you would also realize he's doing MORE then 1080p noobs.
Submitted by Chris on February 12, 2008 - 7:31pm.
Quote: A man builds, a parasite asks 'Where's my share?' - well that was an obvious quote from "BioShock".This system is outstanding, if i had the money i'd definately do it - not give it to charity - cos i've sat on the bones of my arse and no one's ever given me anything.I say fair play, most rich people spend $6M on stupid things like cars and yachts, this guy made a cinema in his gaff, money well spent i say, it's beautiful to behold and i'm sure it provides excellent video and audio quality, worth every penny.
Submitted by ConfusedShoes on February 19, 2008 - 8:31am.
To my mind, the sincere attempt of Mr. Kipnis to achieve the last word in Home Theater begs the question, "Is the absolute best in home theater achievable only by using commercial gear (his choice) or can his system be beat by using equally SOTA professional equipment?" Anyone out there willing to challenge Mr. Kipnis' end result using pro gear? Obviously, cost is not the issue here.
Submitted by SeymourAV on February 19, 2008 - 11:31am.
The biggest shortcomings I see with his system is that he's using three center channels that aren't identical to his left/right speakers. He should have used an acoustically transparent screen (Stewart microperfs as a standard option), and had a single center tower that's identical to his mains. Having identical front soundstage is critical for true multichannel audiphiles, as is having the sound come from behind the image (like Mr. Lucas has). Audiophiles prize sonic imagery, and having the comb-filtering mess from three center channels, firing from the floor several feet below the image, having early-reflection distortion from floor and tube amp obstacles, is deeply compromised. This system surely has merits, but is far from state of the art, which has to include best practices.
Submitted by Spitgray on February 19, 2008 - 1:14pm.
I wish you all will quit it... Obviously, he has the money to blow... I would have done it too if I could afford it... I pretty sure if has that much to blow on a "toy" (all wealthy people have them)... he has a charity or six that he support as well... Do you thing, man... it looks creative... especially the subs... I would have organized the speakers to save space in the room, but very good none the lessS.
Submitted by Tonz of Fun on February 19, 2008 - 1:23pm.
Wow. I don't think I have ever read so many angry comments from people who think they know more about what a person wants or needs, especially one they have never met. I say well done Mr. Kipnis.I have an extremely humble home setup, and it suits me well until I can afford to upgrade it. I bet you Mr. Kipnis's system would just destroy mine. I just wish I had the money to set up a system like his because, I tell you now, most of us would if we could. And I believe that is the truth.
Submitted by Mike V on February 19, 2008 - 5:17pm.
Wow. Just wow. There are so many comments here about how "this is such a waste of money" and "donate to charity" etc etc. How do you know what the man does with the rest of his money? ANYWAY..I probably would have done more work on the acoustics of the room, but what do I know. I have never heard his system, and neither have many of you. It might sound awesome. Certainly the equipment is top notch. I congratulate David on his success and being able to spend it on something he obviously enjoys. Any of you that want to do it too, you work hard enough you can make something like this happen too. Ain't America great?
Submitted by Chris Church on February 19, 2008 - 5:20pm.
I think they should plug in the speakers for 6M dont you see picture #2 rear of subwolfer.. And maybe moving the amps that are blocking off half of the tweeters and mids in the center channel would ALSO be a good idea.. I am pretty sure they should be unobstructed.. And I agree this money would have been better spent on charity.. But what do I know...
Submitted by Dave on July 29, 2008 - 12:56pm.
What a mess. For $6 million I you could buy a building, all the equipment, build some stadium seating and charge admission. This guy obviously has no clue about acoustics and home theater design. No room treatments, hardwood floors and inferior playback equipment. He's so proud of his huge screen but places speakers below it rather than behind it. No wonder his center's sound hollow. I suppose some Nordost cables would fix that (right!!!). That's Ultimate AV for you...promoting snake oil salesmen everywhere.
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