Here’s the Most Ridiculous Stereo System Ever

If you’re looking for a hobby that will truly allow you to funnel as much disposable income into it as possible, it would be my recommendation to become a self-professed audiophile. Between the breadth of available equipment, constant disagreements based on taste and “sound profile” and egregiously expensive upgrades, it’s a glorious money pit to sink into. Give your local audio/video supplier carte blanche with your credit card, and eventually, you’ll be able to hear a fly coughing on the wall of the studio on your favorite band’s best album.

Now, I’m not arguing that investing some scratch into quality audio equipment is a bad thing. I’m not one of these guys who argues that anything over the $14 sticky headphones from the checkout line of the local CVS is a waste of money. But once we start getting into the worlds of pre-amps and planar magnetic headphones and multiple thousands of dollars, questions are raised about your ability to actually appreciate the exponentially smaller improvements you’re getting. Plus, I have to think that music does sound a little better when you’re not in debt. In fact, I’d argue the absolute best way to listen to music is on an incredible sound system that you don’t own and never paid for. It’s like being friends with a guy with a crazy home theater.

Of these music-loving mad scientists who have built listening devices and rooms extraordinaire, the king might have been a man named Ken Fritz. Like a king too, his journey to the top wasn't without its skeletons. He paid for the stereo system he built, one so large and complex that it made the house it was supposedly in feel a little bit like a side room, with every currency you can think of. Funnily enough, his obsession rose to a level that even local A.V. peddlers weren’t able to capitalize on by upselling him on shiny new developments, because he ended up building much of the system himself. Usually, you think of DIY as a cheap alternative, but this was anything but. By his estimation, this single listening room was made up of an investment of over a million bucks.

Given how music can transport the mind, it almost feels as close as a mortal man can get to building his own tiny world to live in. Unfortunately, mortal Ken was, and he eventually passed away from ALS. On one hand, that loss of function in someone who was famously a builder must have been hard to take, but at the same time, he'd constructed the perfect place for him to live out his final days. 

So what happened to the million-dollar speaker system? Sadly, and as was Fritz’ exact nightmare, it was slowly sold off, piece by piece. 

It’s unlikely anything like it will be built again, so unless you ever had the privilege of partying with Ken and friends, you probably missed your opportunity to listen to the greatest sound system ever built.