February 7, 2008 6:44 AM PST

Shock and awe: A $6 million home theater

Posted by Steve Guttenberg

This is the Kipnis Studio Standard.

(Credit: Robert Wright)

If your typical high-end home theater with rows of plush seats, velvet wallpaper, and popcorn machines offers Cadillac levels of performance and luxury, then Jeremy Kipnis' $6 million ultimate home theater is more like a fire-breathing Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano, the fastest production Ferrari ever built.

This home theater is all about aggressively advancing the state of the art of picture and sound presentation. Yes, it's comfortable and beautiful, but its prime directive is a quest for the very best. Nothing, and I mean nothing, is overlooked. Kipnis won't settle for second best.

The Audiophiliac (left) and Jeremy Kipnis in the KSS.

(Credit: Robert Wright)

Kipnis calls his creation the Kipnis Studio Standard, and if all goes according to plan, wealthy movie industry professionals, actors, directors, and producers will be lining up to commission him to custom-design and build a KSS for them.

Well, I spent some quality time checking out the KSS system and came away from the experience totally dazzled by the ultra-high resolution (4,096 x 2,160) picture from the Sony SRX-R110 Digital Cinema Projector. The uber Sony produces four times the resolution of 1080p image.

Snell THX Music & Cinema Reference LCR-2800 Center-Channel Speakers

(Credit: Robert Wright)

The 8.8 channel audio system is 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. The 8.8 channel system uses 16 (!!!) 18-inch subwoofers and that might be why the KSS is easily the most effortlessly powerful home theater I have ever heard. Unlike all of the other high-end home theaters, the KSS was designed to present picture and sound beyond that found in even the finest screening rooms. Kipnis spared no expense to build the very best.

My feature article in the Audio Video Interiors section of the February issue of Home Theater magazine is loaded with great pictures and information about the KSS. Oh, and there's plenty more at Kipnis-Studios.com.

Originally posted at The Audiophiliac
Steve Guttenberg is a frequent contributor to magazines and Web sites including Home Entertainment, Playback, and Ultimate AV. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network, and is not an employee of CNET. Disclosure.
Tags:

Home Theater magazine,

Audio Video Interiors,

Kipnis Studio Standard,

Jeremy Kipnis

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Add a Comment (Log in or register) 45 comments (Showing first 20 comments)
SIX million for this mess?? Nice try
by Glacticus February 7, 2008 6:52 AM PST
Ugh! If that's what I get for 6 mil, I'll take my dough elsewhere. One slip and fall and you've hurt yourself on a amp-speaker unit. The room is not party friendly, or even guest friendly! C'mon folks...you're selling THIS as the ultimate? You've been in your cubicle much too long.
Reply to this comment
SIX million for this mess?? Nice try
by Glacticus February 7, 2008 6:52 AM PST
Ugh! If that's what I get for 6 mil, I'll take my dough elsewhere. One slip and fall and you've hurt yourself on a amp-speaker unit. The room is not party friendly, or even guest friendly! C'mon folks...you're selling THIS as the ultimate? You've been in your cubicle much too long.
Reply to this comment
People Just Don't Get It
by epimetheus13 February 7, 2008 8:05 AM PST
This guy didn't spend the money for a party room and he probably wasn't concerned about trying to jog around the room. The way I see it he built it as an experiment, a proof of concept that something like that is possible with existing products. Personally, if I had the money, I'd love to do something like that.
Reply to this comment
People Just Don't Get It
by epimetheus13 February 7, 2008 8:05 AM PST
This guy didn't spend the money for a party room and he probably wasn't concerned about trying to jog around the room. The way I see it he built it as an experiment, a proof of concept that something like that is possible with existing products. Personally, if I had the money, I'd love to do something like that.
Reply to this comment
Not the fastest Ferrari
by royauty February 7, 2008 11:45 AM PST
The Ferrari Enzo uses a very similar powerplant but is much lighter, and so faster than the 599. In other words, most powerful does NOT equal fastest. I think that your comparison continues to be valid: although this may be one of the most expensive home theaters ever designed, that couch looks much less comfortable than it should! And what's with the books? What do they do for the acoustics? So, just as the 599 is not the ultimate Ferrari (which is good, since I don't want them to stop making cars), I doubt this is the ultimate home theater set-up.
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Not the fastest Ferrari
by royauty February 7, 2008 11:45 AM PST
The Ferrari Enzo uses a very similar powerplant but is much lighter, and so faster than the 599. In other words, most powerful does NOT equal fastest. I think that your comparison continues to be valid: although this may be one of the most expensive home theaters ever designed, that couch looks much less comfortable than it should! And what's with the books? What do they do for the acoustics? So, just as the 599 is not the ultimate Ferrari (which is good, since I don't want them to stop making cars), I doubt this is the ultimate home theater set-up.
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Agressive much?
by ddmtrackstar February 7, 2008 12:25 PM PST
hey um... royauty.. I am all for free speech, but you don't have to use it to be
only negative. I am a serial monagomist myself, so I am all for the being
pesimistic to make other people feel bad, and sound smart... But I mean come
on... Its Cnet I dont think they need to be "corrected" by a mistake, that was
only really a mistake because you interpreted it that way...

AND those arent books... They're albums
Reply to this comment
Agressive much?
by ddmtrackstar February 7, 2008 12:25 PM PST
hey um... royauty.. I am all for free speech, but you don't have to use it to be
only negative. I am a serial monagomist myself, so I am all for the being
pesimistic to make other people feel bad, and sound smart... But I mean come
on... Its Cnet I dont think they need to be "corrected" by a mistake, that was
only really a mistake because you interpreted it that way...

AND those arent books... They're albums
Reply to this comment
Bogus, no wires!
by sans testiclees February 7, 2008 12:37 PM PST
Where the hell are the wires, you can see the posts on the speakers, no wires, no power to the amps, the whole thing is bogus.
Reply to this comment
Bogus, no wires!
by sans testiclees February 7, 2008 12:37 PM PST
Where the hell are the wires, you can see the posts on the speakers, no wires, no power to the amps, the whole thing is bogus.
Reply to this comment
8.8 - How many centers is that?
by asilvera4 February 7, 2008 12:50 PM PST
Steve, I hope you passed along your advice about skipping on the center channel(s).
Reply to this comment
8.8 - How many centers is that?
by asilvera4 February 7, 2008 12:50 PM PST
Steve, I hope you passed along your advice about skipping on the center channel(s).
Reply to this comment
Acoustical mess?
by htdude February 7, 2008 3:29 PM PST
From the photos, it looks like a mess acoustically. Hard wood flooring and glass coffee table, plus no visible absorbers on any walls (the albums will provide some diffusion, but not much at high SPL's). Plus, it appears that the Mac amps are partially obscuring some of the front speakers.
Reply to this comment
Acoustical mess?
by htdude February 7, 2008 3:29 PM PST
From the photos, it looks like a mess acoustically. Hard wood flooring and glass coffee table, plus no visible absorbers on any walls (the albums will provide some diffusion, but not much at high SPL's). Plus, it appears that the Mac amps are partially obscuring some of the front speakers.
Reply to this comment
What?...............
by Csipa1 February 7, 2008 5:41 PM PST
I have an $80,000.00 house, a $3000.00 GMC Sonoma, a $300.00 home theater. Life is awesome!
Reply to this comment
What?...............
by Csipa1 February 7, 2008 5:41 PM PST
I have an $80,000.00 house, a $3000.00 GMC Sonoma, a $300.00 home theater. Life is awesome!
Reply to this comment
A better way to spend that kind of dough
by Rod Roddy February 7, 2008 8:48 PM PST
If I had 6 Million to burn, I'd have a bunch of Bionics installed inside me! Besides, that set up just looks plain ugly.
Reply to this comment
A better way to spend that kind of dough
by Rod Roddy February 7, 2008 8:48 PM PST
If I had 6 Million to burn, I'd have a bunch of Bionics installed inside me! Besides, that set up just looks plain ugly.
Reply to this comment
insane devotion
by ihk88 February 8, 2008 6:45 AM PST
this person belongs to a mental institution. even bill gate and warren buffet will laugh to death from this mess
Reply to this comment
insane devotion
by ihk88 February 8, 2008 6:45 AM PST
this person belongs to a mental institution. even bill gate and warren buffet will laugh to death from this mess
Reply to this comment
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