Most ridiculous home theater ever? You decide.

[rsaavedra]

Originally Posted by oicdn

He probably has CRAZY connections and all it took was a couple phone calls saying he'll be in a magazine and I bet it was all given to him...

That makes sense, because it is particularly suspicious that there are no cables connecting any of the McIntosh amps to anything. Wiring all those amps and components properly is a major task, particularly routing the AC cables adequately, sufficiently away from any signal and digital cables. It would NOT be reasonable to remove all those wires to simply get an uncluttered photo. Makes more sense that the rig has never been conected in the arrangement shown. Probably they were put together in a hurry just for those article pics.

[nor_spoon]

Lets hope for his sake he doesnt get into tube rolling...

[ethebull]

Originally Posted by rsaavedra

That makes sense, because it is particularly suspicious that there are no cables connecting any of the McIntosh amps to anything. Wiring all those amps and components properly is a major task, particularly routing the AC cables adequately, sufficiently away from any signal and digital cables. It would NOT be reasonable to remove all those wires to simply get an uncluttered photo. Makes more sense that the rig has never been conected in the arrangement shown. Probably they were put together in a hurry just for those article pics.

Did you happen to notice the glowing tubes in the photos? They are connected and operating, and yet there are no power cords visible. It therefore seems clear that all signal and power cables are channeled in a custom subfloor.

[ethebull]

Originally Posted by oicdn

Amount that system is worth: $6,000,000
Amount he probably spent on that system: $0

Article said he was good childhood friends with Henry Kloss. He was an Engineer and Producer and now owns a record label. He probably has CRAZY connections and all it took was a couple phone calls saying he'll be in a magazine and I bet it was all given to him...

McIntosh and Snell are small companies. His connections would provide industry "accomodation" prices - half off retail, or a little below wholesale. In the case of Snell, giving that stuff away would exceed their annual advertizing budget.

[rsaavedra]

Originally Posted by ethebull

Did you happen to notice the glowing tubes in the photos? They are connected and operating, and yet there are no power cords visible. It therefore seems clear that all signal and power cables are channeled in a custom subfloor.

I noticed the apparently lit blue dials, not any glowing tubes though.

Do you know where the connectors of those amps are located?



At the top rear. There are simply no cables there. I'm thinking it's easier to photoshop a bit of color in different spots on a photo than to hide all the wiring that should be there in the first place, but isn't.

Maybe he asked to get all those McIntoshes custom built though. That's a possibility, but to me less likely. You can see the connectors absolutely idle in the second pic of the link in the OP. Here's that pic:

[ethebull]

You're right. It would seem all the photos were taken before anything was operational. There's no connection to the subs on the left of the last photo, all that back lit blue in the open equipment racks with nowhere to hide the wires...

[rsaavedra]

Originally Posted by ethebull

There's no connection to the subs on the left of the last photo

True too. Believe it or not, I hadn't noticed that that sub didn't have any wires either in its posts :P Was paying more attention to the amps, which require more wiring.

On another topic, wondering if anyone could recognize those amp stands under the McIntosh amps. I can't figure out the name (something-"tech" it seems?) Does anyone know their model and how much they go for? I´ll adjust my cost estimates once I have that information.

[IPodPJ]

That is just..... insane.

[rsaavedra]

Ok I found out, the stand brand is Solid Tech. Found it remembering that Patrick here on Headfi had some very similar stands, and they were in fact made by that same manufacturer.

Didn't find any exact MSRP for that "Rack of silence" mono stand, but a larger one by the same company costs $1800 online. Let's keep using generous MSRP estimates, I'll say $2K for each. There is a total of 33 of those mono stands, so that's an extra $66k we have to add to my previous total.

The updated total is therefore around $1.6 MM, still quite too far from the alleged $6 MM. And that is, $1.6 MM using generous MSRP's, and not taking into account likely discounts for large purchases.

Here's the cost breakup percentually, grouping by subsystem:

Video			350000	22,1%
Amplification		336000	21,2%
Speakers		265000	16,7%
Power			230000	14,5%
Sources+processors	154700	9,8%
Cables			100000	6,3%
Room acoustics		100000	6,3%

Shipping		50000	3,2%
		
Grand total		1585700	100,0%

With respect to the AC + architecture/construction labor and services for that one home theater room with really so little design per se, I doubt it would even exceed 10% of those $1.6 MM.

[IPodPJ]

$100,000 for cables? Are you kidding me? He could have spent at least a million or two million on cables, power cords and speaker wire. Some interconnects cost $5K per meter. Some power cords cost $10K per 1.5 meter.

And in your figure you didn't put down any costs for lighting.

[milkpowder]

True if he uses Nordost Odin, Tara Labs The Zero, Transparent Opus MM Reference, etc... Or maybe he just uses self-terminated Belden on a spool in which case it wouldn't even cost him a few grand.

[sahwnfras]

You guys are idiots, who cares if its not all wired up in the picture. Lets be honest you dont make a set up like that and forget cables wtf. And the writer said he was watchign and listening to the system, so what does that tell you... it works.
Ya maybe he took out the bales for the pictures but who cares.

And as for adding up the 6mil cost, the only way you can do that correctly is to ask the guy himself. As people have said the components are only part of the cost. Theres the labour, think of how long that would take to set up and properly calibrate. And the construction, it sure seems like he built the room for it, i mean how many rooms have 8 foot ceilings at the back and slope to a 16 foot celing at the top.

[rsaavedra]

Originally Posted by IPodPJ

$100,000 for cables? Are you kidding me? He could have spent at least a million or two million on cables, power cords and speaker wire. Some interconnects cost $5K per meter. Some power cords cost $10K per 1.5 meter.

Yes, but that would certainly go against all common sense on audio spending even for millionaires: to spend more on cables than on the whole rest of your system, sources, amps, and speakers included, which don't add up to a million. Could be done for sure. A bit silly that would be, if you asked me.

You can always buy cables engraved with diamonds, and the % will go 99.99% cables vs 0.01% rest of your whole rig you know.

And in your figure you didn't put down any costs for lighting.

I did figure that, but that would go together with all the room finishes besides room acoustics. I just included a rough $100K for room acoustics treatment. Lighting and the whole room doubtedly would reach $1 MM on its own. Add the $1.6, and still you are under half of those 6 mil.

[rsaavedra]

Originally Posted by sahwnfras

And the writer said he was watchign and listening to the system, so what does that tell you... it works.

So the writer says, so then it must be true huh?, Hmm... or maybe it's all a bluff. I'm sure just connecting those fronts and a couple of those surrounds and subs will impress anyone anyway.

[ethebull]

Originally Posted by sahwnfras

You guys are idiots, who cares if its not all wired up in the picture.

Any non- idiot would.

As someone who has designed and installed custom systems, I would have liked to have seen what the system looked like in operation. Cables are not an after thought, nor is cable management in such a complex system.