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Guinness Records 2009 Winner - The Greatest Show on Earth!

The Ultimate Home Theater - 210 Sq. Meters - With a cost of $6 Million USD.

Owning a huge home theater is actually the pride and joy of every audiophile & videophile in the world, especially a home theater based on great passion for picture and sound, as well as insight into combining components in a system with precision, and beside a very “hi-end” cost of $6 Million US dollars. Vietnam AV Magazine is talking about the Kipnis Studio Standard (KSS) – a grand collection of entertainment technologies belonging to a very special character who is very eager to share his greatest pride.

Who is the Owner of the $6 Million Dollar Home Theater?

Jeremy Kipnis and his wife Carolina currently reside in the State of Connecticut, USA. His grandfather Alexander was a well-known opera Basso whose music and performances had great impact on the world of music after World War I. He escaped Nazi Germany in 1934 with his family to emigrate to the United States. Igor, the son of Alexander and father of Jeremy, was a world renowned keyboardist, pianist and harpsichordist with 11 Grammy Nominations. Therefore, it is not difficult to predict Kipnis’ love for music as well as his specified talent and passion in creating musical and visual performances, anew.

As a small boy, Kipnis remembers with great interest his bond to music and movies. "When I was a young child, my father often took me to the largest cinemas and movie palaces in New York City and around the world”. Kipnis had the chance of seeing movies on the largest screens in these theaters starting at the age 4 years old. From that "experience" in cinemas, 3 years later, the 7 year old boy hoped to design and create a theater with the best possible picture and sound quality.

By 1979, Kipnis was one of the first in the US videophile market to buy a Laser Video Disc Player and since then has not stopped enriching his vast collection of discs. Kipnis watched movies on one of the very first projectors on the market at that time, the Kloss Model 1 NovaBeam with a diagonal measure of 2 meters. The legendary inventor of speakers and projectors at KLH, Acoustic Research, and ADVENT, Henry Kloss was a close personal friend of his parents, so we could infer that the "seeds" of KSS were sown from a very early age, indeed. In the early part of 1990, Kipnis began work as a Producer and Engineer for the leading Audiophile Record Label, Chesky Records. 4 years later, he had created his own Audiophile label called Epiphany Recordings Limited. Together with his father as Artist & Repertoire Director, Kipnis went on to create numerous award winning 192 kHz / 24-bit audiophile CD albums of popular Classical concert repertoire, along with a unique Concert & Audio Test Sampler (which are available for download via his websites).

Equipment Specifications (abbreviated)

Video Projectors :

Meridian 810 Reference Video Projection System - 4k (4,096 x 2,400P) 3-Chip LCOS (2D - 2.39:1 CinemaScope Movies w ISCO Anamorphic Lens)

Sony SRX-T110 - 4k (4096 x 2160P) 3-chip SXRD (3D - Movies, TV, Video Games)

Sony Qualia 004 - 2k (1920 x 1080P) 3-chip SXRD 2,000 ANSI Lumen 2 Megapixel Home Theater Projector (short throw Zeiss zoom Lens: 1.43-1.86) - Supplemental Material Projection System

Film Screen :

Stewart Snowmatte Motion Picture Screen - Laboratory Grade Unity Gain 4-way Automatic Motorized Masking - 18' x 10.125' (22’ Diagonal)

Components (video) :

Sony LMT-200 - 4k Motion Picture Server

Apple MacBook Pro (5x) - 4k Media Server

Sony PlayStation 3 - BluRay Player

XBOX 360 - Game System

Nintendo Wii

Toshiba HD-A35 - HD-DVD Player

JVC HM-DH5U - DVHS

Scientific Atlanta 8300HD - Cable DVR

Pioneer HLD-X0 - HD LaserDisc Player

Sony MSC-4000 - MUSE HD Decoder

Acoustic Treatment :

Auralex 4" Acoustic Studio Wedge Foam (3,250 Sq Feet) - Hand applied to all exposed surfaces on the ceiling, walls, and doors - in Deep Purple; eliminates standing waves, shortens reverb to 485 milliseconds (20 Hz - 102 kHz), absorbs screen splash-back resulting in accurate black levels and true contrast ratios.

Balanced Power Supply :

Equitech 100 kVA Toroidal Balancing Isolation Transformer (2x) - (240 Volts to 120 Volts Balanced = +/- 60 Volts) - Unique All Differential Quad Balanced Alternating Current Reference Power Supply System

The Outer Limits Home Theater or What a Man Can Build for $6 Million Dollars!

The Kipnis Studio Standard (KSS) is often called “The Greatest Show on Earth" by its owner, Jeremy Kipnis. Actually, from its outward appearance, everyone must pretty much agree with this name! Kipnis' Ciné Beta home theater has a total area of 210 m2. All walls and the two ceilings are designed intentionally not to be parallel so that standing waves will never occur in this room. The theater is lit by 40 Chauvet 196 ColorWash Flood Lights and 40 Chauvet ColorSplash 200B Spot Lamps which are professional theatrical computer programmable LED lighting. of the highest order and economy.

Technically, KSS is an 8.8 channel surround sound system (far exceeding the conventional 5.1 system) This includes 10 Snell THX Tower Speakers and 16 companion Snell THX Subwoofer loudspeakers. Kipnis says that originally each Snell THX Loudspeaker System only included a single Snell LCR-2800 center speaker, but that sound seemed to lack "impact” and “authenticity" by comparison to the Towers, so he tested and decided finally to use 3 of these Snell LCR-2800 center channel speakers, instead. Likewise, the original contingent of 8 subwoofers he had originally specified sounded "really good", but unfortunately didn't deliver the full earth-moving-under-your-feet effect he was looking for. So, he researched and developed a unique D’Appolito implementation featuring 16 of these 18-inch Snell subwoofers! To balance the other frequency extreme, and for the ultimate in transient speed and transparency, the Snell speakers' treble has been augmented with 10 MuRata ES103a super tweeters. The speakers are fed by a well-balanced combination of audiophile solid-state and vacuum-tube amplification. The balance achieved between frequency extension and speed creates the illusion of reality and defines a whole new benchmark in audio standards, particularly in light of the sound achieved through optimization, like the treble sound from the Snell speakers being clarified by using the MuRata ES103a super tweeters. Thus, from the deepest deep bass (below 1 Hz) up beyond the extreme high-frequency range (102,500 kHz), KSS reproduces the complete range of sounds and beyond that are experienceable by the human condition. Total electrical output capacity of the system is no less than 64.400 Watts - and this translates to an enormous degree of headroom (40 dB, in fact) which reduces any harmonic distortion to an absolute minimum!

Kipnis says that the quality of the viewing screen is also a big part of the totally immersive home theater experience he designs and creates. His own KSS Ciné Beta Home Theater Showroom is equipped with a 5.6 Meter Widescreen – a Stewart Snowmatte (Laboratory Grade Motion Picture Screen), to be precise. Simultaneously, there can be four movies shown at Full 1080P HD quality thanks to the help of the Meridian 810 Reference Video System (Widescreen 2.39:1 CinemaScope Movies) and the Sony SRX-T110 digital projector (3D Movies, TV, Still Photos, and Video Games), featuring resolutions of nearly 10 Megapixels, an astonishing 4096 x 2400 pixels. To improve image quality even further, KSS also utilizes advanced scaling and noise reduction technologies from Silicon Optix, Snell & Wilcox, and Lumagen to create images far superior even to 70 mm / 15-perforation 6 x 9 Centimeter IMAX theatrical presentations.

The unique twin-balanced KSS power transformers have an efficiency of 13.800 volt / 800 amps each. All cable systems are beyond first-class quality (the highest level used to be called: Class). Kipnis’ Ciné Beta Screening Room is considered a laboratory wherein he performs experiments using the most advanced technologies available today. It is interesting to note that Kipnis is also building KSS Systems for the leading Film, Television, Media, and Video Game Professionals as well as for enthusiastic individuals who have the economic means and are foremost lovers of electronic entertainment.

Jeremy Kipnis has spent 40 years looking for the best and most cutting edge technologies and equipment in the world. He is committed to pairing these devices to create the perfect home theater experience. Thus, the 2009 Guinness World Record awarded to his Kipnis Studio Standard is most fully deserved!

Digital Processing (audio) :

Theta Casablanca III (Version 3) - 8.8 Channel 2x Oversampling Digital Surround Sound Processor

Theta Generation VIII (Version 2) - 8x Oversampling Stereo Digital-to-Analog Converter 13x)

Benchmark ADC USB - 192 kHz 24-Bit Analog to Digital Converter with Selectable Resampling and Dither

Benchmark DAC USB - 192 kHz 24-Bit Digital to Analog Converter with USB Interface & Ultra Low Jitter Clock

Digital Processing (video) :

Lumagen Radiance XD - 1920 x 1080P60 & 24P Video Scaler & Noise Reduction System

Snell & Wilcox (Interpolator) - 4K Broadcast Video Scaler & Integration System

Power Amplifiers :

McIntosh MC-2102 Tube Amplifier (48x)

McIntosh MC-2301 Tube Amplifier (2x)

Crown Macro Reference Amplifier (3x)

Mark Levinson No. 33H Amplifier (2x)

MESA Boogie Baron Tube Amplifier (1x)

Speakers :

Snell THX Music & Cinema Reference Tower 4-Way Loudspeaker (10x)

Snell THX Sub-1800 18" Subwoofer Loudspeaker(16x)

Murata ES103a Super Tweeter Loudspeaker (10x)

Snell THX Music & Cinema Reference LCR-2800 4-Way Center Channel Loudspeaker (3x)

Touch Screen Control System :

Crestron QuickMedia Complete Automation Control System - (Multi Room A/V Touch Screen Control System with Internet Browsing and Apple iPhone Interface)

Digital LED Lighting :

Chauvet ColorSplash 200B LED Flood Lights (40x) - 196: 1 mm Red, Green, & Blue Computer Controlled & Automated LEDs - 45 degree flood, 15 watts each, no noise or heat generated

Chauvet ColorRain PAR 56 LED Spot Lights (40x) - 99: 10 mm Red, Green, & Blue Computer Controlled & Automated LEDs - 15 degree spot, 15 watts each, Ultra-Low Carbon Footprint

Chauvet Show Express Plus - DMX 512+ Channel Computer Controlled Stage Lighting System

Digital Media Management :

TERRA-SAN - Premiere Audio / Video Media Grooming Service, Library Management & Distribution Locus