Boy what a bunch of jealous wankers, Its his coin and if he wants to spend this cash on bragging rights, All the power to him. Do you all cut up a man with a private jet because he could have flown in economy??? Or the hope diamond when you could have have zirconia ? 400 ft yacht when he could have cruised on disney?? Go play on your ps3 on your $999 benq and you self made painted screen
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)
»
- Login or register to post comments
Comments
Submitted by Chris on February 8, 2008 - 5:42pm.
1. It is a lab. a client install would take far more care about aesthetics. And as such, things are set to easily swap things out. and as he said, he is using it to play.2. He did not spend 6 mill... he said it would cost somebody 6 mill to buy it.3. the Runco... WHATEVER does not compare to this 4K beastie.4. The guy on the couch is not him. he is the shaggy lookin dude.5. 12000 watts of amplification is a fancy way of saying there are 24 x 500watt amps (or whatever the config is) not that he uses 12K watts to run the system.Why does he have to give the money to anybody? if he has worked hard and made lots of money, it is his. Sure it would make us feel nice if he did... but the money we are talking about could be considered as capital expenditures in a business. we know very little about him or his gig. to pretend we do is the height of ignorance.
Submitted by Anonymous on February 8, 2008 - 6:09pm.
@Michael Capitalism my behind, thats simply a waste of money, although its his money to waste...When its all said and done its 6million bucks worth of already obsolete over-indulgence.....Its not about jealousy, its not even the best equipment out there for that kind of money, but I could see Bill Gates doing this, but then again he gives hundreds of MILLIONS to the unfortunate through his foundation, so there is a difference.....Heck the money this guy spent on a HT system so he could sit there and gain more weight gawking at his big screen, could have rebuilt how many homes in New Orleans, fed how many children?.....Hmmm.. Oh but its his money.
Submitted by Chris on February 8, 2008 - 6:50pm.
$6 million is a chunk of change to spend on stuff like this, but good for him.Giving it to charity? Sure - why not give some to charity. But for someone else to dictate that it SHOULD be given to charity? What dick. People like that SHOULD give all their money to charity - that would be the price of being so freaking smug. David's just a Daydreaming Marxist.
Submitted by FunnyWorld on February 8, 2008 - 7:01pm.
Most people don't tell the difference between 720p and 1080p, not talking about the sound... some experiments have shown that, if properly set up, not even an audiophile could distinguise an mp3 from a SACD, and that's using "expensive" amps and speakers. That 6 million obscenity sounds and looks better than a 60K one just because it HAS TO (but maybe just in our minds). And no, I don't envy that guy who expends that amount of money for watching a bluray... and my english is far from perfect, I know... and my ps3 is expensive, but got it for free... and reading all those comments was great! By the way, don't listen your ipod that loud, or you could miss the 6 million experience some day... ;-)
Submitted by StArSeEd on February 8, 2008 - 8:04pm.
I'm surprised the equipment list left out the details what would, judging by the walls of what appear to at least mostly be vinyl records, be one of the most important pieces of this setup: the turntable, an ELP Laser Turntable atop the right equipment rack. And also don't miss the Scientific-Atlanta Explorer 8300HD digital cable DVR in the lower left.
Submitted by Warren on February 15, 2008 - 10:24am.
Wealth, Charity, Taxes, and Audiophiles- Part IIf you are and average American, chances are you are in the top 1% of the wealthiest people in the world. Your $50K a year salary would feed hundreds in many parts of the world. If you are in the top 1% of wealthy Americans, you probaly donate more to charity that the average American earns. The multi-millionaires in this country give large sums of money (a minimum of 5% of their annual income) to charity through charitable foundations that they establish to reduce their tax burden. So, if someone makes millions a year, they are donating $100K's to charity. However, even if they gave it all away to charity, would you people out there tell them which charity to give to? Bill Gates gives to schools. I direct my foundation to give to charities meaningful to me, such as Alzheimers and Breast Cancer research, and the WWF, not to starving strangers, and certainly not to whiners like yourselves.
Submitted by Hap on February 15, 2008 - 1:27pm.
Oh wah. The setup is a result of a fanatical and, I imagine, iterative evolution to what it is today. It is not how I'd spend my money but I recognize that without people who do this kind of overkill, the state of the art will advance more slowly. I think it is a work in progress.As to those who point out all of the alleged flaws, given Kipnis' background, I consider him to be a far better judge of the technical merits than any anonymous poster or criticism.Further, no one on this thread knows whether or not Kipnis makes large charitable donations of his money. The theater setup shown may be an insignificant expenditure on his part.
Submitted by robert from I-SCAPE on February 19, 2010 - 12:27am.
hello im robert from south texas and your setup is awwwwwwmazing!!! i really want to know what crisp clarity this monstorous system has. ive been in the industry for 7 years and have done my share of high end theaters including Mcinfosh receivers but this is awesome. i always think when im doing a home "how can i customize it" so the owner can say "you know im the only one who has this setup. by the way i do full custom instalations. we onced combined the sony plasma xrb on a swivel bracket with b&w onwall bars so that no matter where you turn your tv you would always hear your 3.1. i would like to chat with you to deepened my knoledge my email is rortiz_2284@yahoo.com. also to homeauto with C4 and HAI
Submitted by BA Tech on February 29, 2008 - 8:30pm.
I see a bunch of whiners complaining because this guy decided to spend what he earned!!! Let him enjoy it..My wife is disabled and yeah the money he spent could go along way for assisting others.. but it's his money and let him do with it what he wants.I would like to hear/see some old classics with some of the sound effects that they had..
Submitted by Justin Kelley on January 15, 2010 - 8:52am.
Amazing system!!! If you are wondering where the wires are, check out the video on youtube. The wires were removed for the photo, and for the "off the shelf" guy, he modified all the amps and electronics if you watch the videos it explains all that. This system is revolutionizing audio reproduction. Way to go Kipnis!!
Submitted by chris on June 6, 2008 - 12:56am.
"what a waste" what the hell does that mean....Hes earnt his money for a dream, most people if they had 6 mill would blow it on drugs and alcohol.Leave the guy alone, i admire this setup but most ppl arnt in to audio.Its his money he can do what the hell he wants with it, for you people who rant about this, get a god damn job and earn your own 6 mill......wasters!
Submitted by Manuel Furtado on March 6, 2009 - 7:13am.
Love all the comments. All you guys saying he should have done this and that. The system isn't even hooked up. I don't see a single power cord or speaker wire. How's that going to work. Maybe they removed all the wiring for the photos, but I'm thinking maybe it's a publicity stunt. I would love to experience a system of this level and find out if it's worth the money. I'll reserve judgement unless I hear this thing. Even with that kind of money, I think he could have used less equipment. I am a big believer ib the less is more camp. More electronics means more noise and heat. All those speakers can create major problems if not set up properly. Circle idea is great. all speakers appear same distance from listeners and speakers are far away from wall where you'll want to absorb any refelextions around the listeners. Don't know about amps in front of center speakers though. Awesome statement all together and would love to hear waht that would sound like.
Submitted by todd on March 7, 2008 - 3:08pm.
I'm pretty sure this is a showpiece as he is trying to market this and other setups so if everything was hidden the viual impact of the system as a whole would be lost. Also for those saying the sound stage and such is messed up due to speaker placement and lack of walls probably have a bose system that relys on walls ie. direct reflecting speaker tech., i think anyone that has his dedication to the A/V environment and has spent this much money has and done the appropriate research would not have screwed up simply by speaker placement. I for one will never in my life hear one of these loudspeakers and cannot for the life of me put this system down just because i am jelous.
Submitted by Judi Rovinelli on May 16, 2008 - 6:18am.
I had the pleasure of receiving a demo last night. Absolutely awesome!! The sound was just perfect!! Whomever buys can have the equipment concealed if they want. I liked seeing some of the units because they added to the ambience.Jeremy truely has the ability to make a home theater an awesome experience. His passion, knowledge and perhaps even his family tree has all contributed to the "art" he has created!Maybe pricey but for those that can afford it is worth every penny!!
Submitted by Steve on May 28, 2010 - 8:03am.
Each man has his own vision...some lose track there is a point of diminishing returns wwith audio and video. This a man does for himself for unknow reasons to the rest of us. As an older guy and deep in the industry pro I will tell anyone who cares simple is better. You need an HT room that transports you to another world before you even start the show. 99% of all people couldn't care less about the gear, it is the experience they truly enjoy when you are swept away in a world without distractions. I would title this theater "The ultimate gearheads distraction" It's a funny thing I have noticed as how many people know an inch about audio and acoustics and think they know a mile.I'm just a guy with a lot of initials after my name...oh yeah...and a great love for excellence in sound.
Site Map / Direct Links| Displays Speakers |  |
HT Systems Sources Electronics | |
Other Gear Software AV Interiors | |
Top Picks
|
|
Community Show Reports | |
Blogs
|
|
Shop Resources Subscriptions |
