Introducing The $1,000,000 Speaker

Azhar said:
If I was to build a home theater for a few million, I'd rather make this

http://elitechoice.org/2008/02/12/jeremy-kipnis-unveils-6-million-home-theater/

Though that design could use a lot of improvement (i.e. hardwood floor + many speakers = no no)
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That's extreme overkill... The only reason for that is show (as well as the fact you can say you spent $6 Mil on it).

Kristofff said:
The way they describe entire speaker boxes as a single speaker, my whole car must be just one speaker.
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This isn't anything new. Floor speakers, center channel speakers, etc, etc, etc... They all can have multiple speakers in them. Heck if you want to count the tweeter as a speaker you could do that...
 
TechieSooner said:
That's extreme overkill... The only reason for that is show (as well as the fact you can say you spent $6 Mil on it).
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I know it is. I'm just saying if I'm spending millions on a system, that's what I would rather get. Not just a few expensive speakers.

Only thing I never understood about the $6m theater was why he put all that in a small room. If I had that much money to build a theater, I'd put it in a near-movie theater sized room or something.
 
Azhar said:
Compared to surround sound, stereo is crappy and dated.
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Off-topic: Not for listening to music!

My thinking on home audio has changed in the last few years. Now I recommend to people that are strapped for cash to spend their money on a good pair of stereo speakers instead of a crummy 5.1 home-theater-in-a-box and build their systems out over time as they can afford the additional speakers (in order: subwoofer, a /[really]/ good center channel, and surrounds in that order, surrounds being a distant last).

Of course, if you can afford a good surround set then you just go for it. That said, when listening to music I'll have it play in stereo with just the left/right channel and subwoofer.

A good stereo pair will destroy a mediocre or crap set of 5.1 speakers (basically anything you'd get at Best Buy).
 
On-topic, I was about to ask what kind of amplification was needed to drive those things. A good Classe, Anthem, Rotel, or McIntosh 500W-1200K amp that can drive a larger speaker will be ridiculously expensive, and this is way bigger than most speakers. Then I read in the article that the amplification is built into the speaker, so I guess its not a completely ridiculous price. :rolleyes:
 
i think 31k watts is a bit pushing it, even if its not constant. a good 2000 watts for a home theater system plus a very solid (not pushed hard) 1500 watts for a subwoofer is about as much as i could ask for. and that would still be about 15 to 60 grand depending on what you wanted for quality.
 
Pneuma said:
Umm... 31kw per speaker? So, in a normal house wiring (I'm guessing the amps aren't three phase), you're looking at 4/0 wiring leads for EACH speaker.

You'd need a 75kw transformer just to run a pair of these... but I guess if you've got $2m to blow on a pair, then getting custom home wiring ain't no biggie.

I wonder what kind of line conditioner you'd use, because any true audiophile wouldn't be content with all the noise coming through a standard secondary line.

Good times.

Ian

(and yes, I realize you woulnd only need that much for sustained max power, which it would never do most likely)
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Yeah, the power requirements are ridiculous.

Needing a drop of four ought just to power those suckers? Jeez.
 
Smiththers2 said:
i think 31k watts is a bit pushing it, even if its not constant. a good 2000 watts for a home theater system plus a very solid (not pushed hard) 1500 watts for a subwoofer is about as much as i could ask for. and that would still be about 15 to 60 grand depending on what you wanted for quality.
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Go big enough with a high end speaker (something a B&W 800D for your L/R pair) you can easily go with 1K per channel. Bi-amp those speakers and say goodbye to your electric bill. :)
 
Serpico said:
Says the guy that claims to have a $230000 sound system (on which he can't tell the difference between lossless audio and a 256k mp3) :rolleyes:
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Remember, you're on the "Iggy List" so he can't tell the difference between when you do and don't post, either. :p
 
Eh, its public conversation, its not going to stop me from responding to people on my "dumbass list" ;)
 
Ockie said:
It's really not one speaker... technically.
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A normal speaker is made up of multiple drivers that take care of specific frequencies. My floorstanding speakers have a woofer, a midrange driver, and a tweeter, three units. Same principle with these million dollar speakers, taken to an extreme level of course. :)
 
Yea but who worries about an electric bill if you've got a million dollar speaker? It's just like buying an exotic car.. if you've got the money to buy a Ferrari, do you worry about the price of insurance and maintenance?
 
Serpico said:
Says the guy that claims to have a $230000 sound system (on which he can't tell the difference between lossless audio and a 256k mp3) :rolleyes:
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Most (if not all) would be lieing to themselves if they said they could.

On a side note, authors name was "Steve Guttenberg" :D :D :D
 
True, the rich guy with the high-end speaker setup (ie - B&W 800D and a pair of 1K monoblock amps to drive it) might have a tiny cause for concern with the power draw, but somebody with the million dollar speaker (lol at singular "speaker") is on another level and probably has absolutely no concern.

I'd also guess that he wipes with $100 bills
 
westrock2000 said:
Most (if not all) would be lieing to themselves if they said they could.
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It depends on the hardware and the quality of the recording, honestly. Most modern recordings are garbage and most hardware isn't much better, so for most people listening to modern music on so-so hardware it doesn't really matter what the bitrate is. On a good pair of headphones or speakers I can definitely tell the difference. Better hardware means that flaws in a compressed audio source are going to be more apparent, same as if you look at a DVD on an old CRT and it looks fine, then you play it back on a 60" top-end plasma and all of a sudden all sorts of nasty motion artifacts, dithering, noise in shadows, things like that show up that weren't so apparent on the SD display. All that said, getting better loudspeakers or headphones (and a good cartridge if you're using a turntable) will make a bigger impact on improving audio quality than anything else, certainly more than reencoding to a very high bitrate or going lossless. I always advise people to do that instead. Of course, if you do have good hardware then improving the source audio is the next step.

On a side note, authors name was "Steve Guttenberg" :D :D :D
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Dang, I thought I could get obscure with my references, I had to Google for that one. :) That's an INSANE interview he gave.
 
you can build your own array for like 1/10000 of that.
 
I'm going to buy one, put some legs on it, lay a piece of acrylic on it, and make it my computer desk. That way I can really get into WoW.
 
How much will it cost per hour in electricity usage to operate a set of these speakers at full power? Let's assume a rate of 12 cents per kW-hr.

polive said:
I'll take 7 of them please. I'm taking donations.
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I'll donate half a million for every inch of my 14" e-penis. :cool:
 
Who could stand to listen to this at full power? I find it alittle funny that some people pay high price to get "great" audio equipment, and turn around to play it so loud that they can't appreciate the quality "difference" between it and shitty audio equipment, because they're too deaf to pick up on the subtleties anymore.
 
PheonixChameleon said:
Who could stand to listen to this at full power? I find it alittle funny that some people pay high price to get "great" audio equipment, and turn around to play it so loud that they can't appreciate the quality "difference" between it and shitty audio equipment, because they're too deaf to pick up on the subtleties anymore.
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See, that's the funny thing about the high end though (I'm not talking about these million dollar speakers btw). Go find a local stereo shop that deals in high-end audio (B&W, Magnepan, Martin Logan, Paradigm, Anthem, Rotel, McIntosh, etc etc), bring in a CD or movie that you're familiar with, then crank it up. What's amazing with the big powerful stuff is that as you get louder, you don't lose any detail or clarity, you can keep pushing it and it won't distort.

Hell, if the recording is good enough (usually jazz recordings and well produced older rock recordings) and you close your eyes, as you turn it up it will seems as though the audio is literally "pushing" out into the room. The instruments seems to come out from points in 3D space instead of from the speakers, its a weird effect and its really cool.

The danger if you aren't careful is that you can crank it up loud enough where it is damaging to your hearing but you won't really realize it because there is no distortion even when it is playing that loud. You won't realize it until you turn it off and someone starts talking to you and you're like "WHAT?" :)

All that said, there is absolutely no frigging way I would want to listen to these million dollar speakers at full blast. Over 140db, are you kidding?
 
PheonixChameleon said:
Who could stand to listen to this at full power? I find it alittle funny that some people pay high price to get "great" audio equipment, and turn around to play it so loud that they can't appreciate the quality "difference" between it and shitty audio equipment, because they're too deaf to pick up on the subtleties anymore.
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:D

That's what's always driven me nuts about the little punks around town that pack as much bass into their little cars as possible... They might say they do it for "good" sound but sheesh, only thing you appreciate at that point is over driven bass and loud music.

Whenever someone I know (I had a 15 year old ask me once) about spending some money to deck his out, I was asking him what his point was. He said for better sound.
"For good QUALITY sound, or just alot of bass?" "Ummm... Just alot of bass".


Most people seem to think alot of loud bass equates sound quality but it doesn't.
 
Serpico said:
Says the guy that claims to have a $230000 sound system (on which he can't tell the difference between lossless audio and a 256k mp3) :rolleyes:
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lol

TechieSooner said:
:D

That's what's always driven me nuts about the little punks around town that pack as much bass into their little cars as possible... They might say they do it for "good" sound but sheesh, only thing you appreciate at that point is over driven bass and loud music.

Whenever someone I know (I had a 15 year old ask me once) about spending some money to deck his out, I was asking him what his point was. He said for better sound.
"For good QUALITY sound, or just alot of bass?" "Ummm... Just alot of bass".


Most people seem to think alot of loud bass equates sound quality but it doesn't.
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You said it yourself that he means "more base" when he says "better sound". I think its pretty obvious he isn't making the confusion you are accusing him of. A 15 year old wants to impress his peers while cruising around and hanging out, not sit in a room alone listening to overpriced music equipment and telling his internet friends all about the sound quality.
 
Kristofff said:
You said it yourself that he means "more base" when he says "better sound". I think its pretty obvious he isn't making the confusion you are accusing him of. A 15 year old wants to impress his peers while cruising around and hanging out, not sit in a room alone listening to overpriced music equipment and telling his internet friends all about the sound quality.
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Yea, because 1 15 year old constitutes absolutely everyone I'm talking about :rolleyes:

I provided a real world example (Here's the dictionary entry if you need it: http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861609588/example.html) about what a typical person does. Most kids destroy their ears with crappy and loud bass and then once they grow up, don't care about musical quality.
That's why most adults also fit into this category... They can't hear worth a crap so your tinny and terrible speakers from the factory usually please them as punch.
The few that make the effort to improve their sound system usually fall back into the same beliefs they had when they were 15: lots of bass = good.
 
TechieSooner said:
Yea, because 1 15 year old constitutes absolutely everyone I'm talking about :rolleyes:

I provided a real world example (Here's the dictionary entry if you need it: http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861609588/example.html) about what a typical person does. Most kids destroy their ears with crappy and loud bass and then once they grow up, don't care about musical quality.
That's why most adults also fit into this category... They can't hear worth a crap so your tinny and terrible speakers from the factory usually please them as punch.
The few that make the effort to improve their sound system usually fall back into the same beliefs they had when they were 15: lots of bass = good.
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You provided an example of a kid who wanted a stereo system that had heavy bass. Congratulations at proving nothing. "Lots of bass = good" is not a false opinion. "Lots of bass = good" does not equal "Lots of bass = high fidelity".
 
Kristofff said:
You provided an example of a kid who wanted a stereo system that had heavy bass. Congratulations at proving nothing. "Lots of bass = good" is not a false opinion. "Lots of bass = good" does not equal "Lots of bass = high fidelity".
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When the ONLY concern is lots of bass? Yes, lots of bass = good, is a bad opinion.

Holy shit I'm tired of arguing with you over such piddly nonsense. Welcome to the iggy list.
 
I laugh whenever I hear someone's car rattling to pieces because of its bass. I have to assume it doesn't sound that bad inside the car.

I love bass, but it has to be balanced with the other freqs.
 
GJSNeptune said:
I laugh whenever I hear someone's car rattling to pieces because of its bass. I have to assume it doesn't sound that bad inside the car.

I love bass, but it has to be balanced with the other freqs.
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I'm w/ you on that. The bass rattler drivers have me shaking my head every time. But at least that's not as bad as their bubbling DIY tint job. :eek:
 
If the U.S. sold about 120,000 of these speakers to people in Dubai then we could pay off our national debt.
 
Found a few pics:

transmission-audio-ultimate-loudspeaker_mpMrd_52.jpg


transmission-audio-ultimate-loudspeaker_2_3nX3x_52.jpg


transmission-audio-ultimate-loudspeaker_3_6M97q_52.jpg


If I had the money, I'd go with the Karma Grand Enigma they mentioned a few pages ago...
 
beowulf7 said:
Wait 'til Obama's presidency is over. We'll need that extra 0. :eek: :p
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You know... It's scary enough that it's true.

I didn't realize our national debt was 12T... I mean, that's insane. Our deficit is basically how much we add to that each year. So this year's projected is going to be what, 2T?

It's ridiculous. We need to pass legislation ASAP that you can only spend what we had coming in the previous year or something... Because this spending has gotten out of hand.
 
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