Luxury resort Atlantis, The Palm was the first resort to open on one of Dubai’s infamous artificial islands, The Palm Jumeirah. Of course, no grand opening would be complete without a party and, since it’s in Dubai, it just had to be the most expensive party in the world.

The luxurious beach party was set to have over 2,000 guests and featured an extravagant $6.58 million fireworks display. The highlight of the evening, though, was the 60 minute performance by Kylie Minogue. For her first ever performance in the Middle East, the pop queen banked over $4 million.

While the 1,539 room hotel opened on September 24th 2008, the world’s most expensive party was scheduled nearly two months later on November 20th. Reportedly, the extravagant beach party cost its hosts over $35 million.

Broadway theatre has its roots in the very end of the 18th century, when New York’s first theatre companies were formed. Nowadays, Broadway audiences can expect to see a mixture of well known television and movie stars and stage actors who only play bit parts outside of theatre. Considering the salaries commanded by film actors, let alone costumes and sets, it’s little wonder that Broadway productions can become quite expensive.

The most expensive Broadway production in history will be “Spider-Man: The Musical,” directed by Julie Taymor. Taymor is no stranger to Broadway, having directed “The Lion King,” based on the Disney film of the same name, in 1997. Feature films under her belt include Shakespearian gore fest Titus (1999) and, most recently, Across the Universe (2007).

Taymor isn’t the only big name attached to this production, though. Scoring the musical will be U2’s Bono and The Edge.

The most expensive Broadway musical in history is expected to cost around $40 million to produce. It’s expected to open next year and, according to the New York Post, will have to run “about 8,000 years” in order to break even.

Starpics, an Australian company known for plectrums made of precious metals, created a completely unique pair of guitar picks. Like their other picks, they’re guaranteed to last pretty much forever and to significantly reduce string breakage. So what makes these picks so special?

They’re made of meteors.

These two luxury picks were fashioned from pieces of Gibeon meteorite. Said to be around 4 billion years old, Gibeon meteorites were discovered in 1836 in Namibia, Africa, where their sale and export were banned by the local government. Despite that fact, over twenty-five tons of the meteorites have been recovered and it is the most commonly found meteorite on the market today. One of the most interesting things about the meteorites is the pattern of Widmanstatten lines created by their frigid passage through space. These patterns are preserved in the picks and can be seen in the picture above.

The most expensive guitar picks in the world are priced at $5,000 AUD ($4,674 USD).

The Ritter Royal Flora Aurum, as it’s called, has a body carved from a rare, solid piece of maple while the nut is carved from 10,000-year-old mammoth ivory. The fingerboard is decorated with a floral inlay pattern made of 24-karat gold. There’s even a black diamond set in platinum decorating each leaf. Even the bridge, tuner buttons and knobs are cast in gold. The knobs on this luxurious bass hold an additional embellishment—they’re both topped with brilliant-cut diamonds (3.3 carats total).

The Flora Aurum is a work in progress and is on hold for one lucky buyer.

The most expensive bass guitar in the world is valued at $100,000.

Universal Music has unveiled the world’s most expensive compact disc at a Japanese department store. The disc, entitled “Woman: Sweet 10 Diamond,” features eighteen songs by female recording artists including Mariah Carey, Rihanna, Mary J. Blige and Nelly Furtado.

The disc’s real draw, though, is its case. Designed in Tokyo by Japanese jeweler Nagahori, the platinum case is studded with ten 2-carat diamonds arranged in a circle around the disc’s title.

The disc is on display at the Takashimaya department store in Tokyo and has a retail price of ￥10 million—just over US $100,000.

That certainly beats the glass CDs created by Japanese engineer Suenori Fukui by a long shot. Made to take advantage of the material’s transparency and scratch resistance, glass compact discs promised audio quality unattainable by plastic.

The first glass CD made available to the public was Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Air on G String,” sold by N & F Label for around $883. Judging by the lack of media attention in the years since it was released, though, you shouldn’t hold your breath waiting for your favorite band’s entire discography to be released on glass.

While the RA:1K is highly customizable, the majority of systems will be installed with nine or ten drivers—four tweeters, four mid-range drivers and one or two subwoofers. These will be supported with up to six amplifiers capable of delivering extraordinarily clear sound at equally extraordinary volumes (0.0008% harmonic distortion at 100 watts and a signal-to-noise ratio higher than 115dB). All of these features will ensure that your car stereo will sound better than it ever has.

Drivers used in the RA:1K

Additionally, the central amp will include a cellular connection allowing Rogue technicians to remotely tune the system or even disable it if it’s stolen. The system can even diagnose itself and, if necessary, automatically request that a service appointment be scheduled.

The most basic version of the most expensive car audio system can be purchased for $72,000, but a serious audiophile can spend over $300,000 on all the bells and whistles that may be included.

Prior to the unveiling of the Rogue Acoustics Audio System, Critical Mass’ CES5.1 Electrostatic Surround Sound System was the most expensive car audio system available. It was lauded for the twelve relatively small electrostatic speakers included in the system; such speakers are normally quite large. In fact, the system outfitted four seats with independent left, right and center drivers while a single pair of rear speakers and a UL12 subwoofer dominated the back of the car. Only ten of these systems were made and they were priced at $259,000.

The Eagles

Celine Dion charges around $6.5 million USD for a private performance, which she holds two or three times a year, while the Rolling Stones charged Texan investor David Bonderman $7 million to play an hour-long set at his 60th birthday in 2002.

The Eagles set the record, though, performing their classic “Hotel California” at a private party in New York for over $6 million. That’s six million dollars for a single song, making that performance the world’s most expensive private musical performance.

6. Wilson Audio’s Alexandria X-2
$135,000
Wilson Audio, makers of high end audio systems such as MAXX, the WATT/Puppy System and Sophia, have combined and perfected the technologies utilized during the development of these systems into their flagship speaker system, the Alexandria X-2. Winner of the 2005 Soundstage! Edge of the Art award and the 2004 Ultra Audio Product of the Year, this expensive speaker system includes a 13” woofer, a 15” woofer, 2 midrange 7” speakers, a tweeter and a rear-firing super tweeter. With Aspherical Group Delay and tracks with over 30 indents for each driver module, these expensive loudspeakers can deliver optimal performance to any position in any room.

5. Acapella Audio Arts’ Sphaeron Excalibur
$325,000

Made for rooms that are at least 40m², Sphaeron Excalibur features three-dimensional sound and can handle 1,000 watts at 10 ms with no distortion. Handmade in Germany, these speakers are as pleasing to the eyes as they are to the ears.

4. CAT’s MBX
$560,000

California Audio Technology (CAT) specializes in custom speaker systems that are better than studio quality. These are usually built into their surroundings for maximum subtlety and are programmed with the layout of the room in mind. For those who want to show off their speakers, though, CAT can also make their speakers with their own housing.

3. Wisdom Audio’s Infinite Wisdom Grande
$700,000

Meant to be used in the largest of rooms, Infinite Wisdom Grande features twenty-four drivers per pair and an unprecedented number of transducers. They also happen to be over 13 feet tall and weigh almost two tons.

2. Kharma’s Grand Enigma
$1,000,000

Kharma, Dutch makers of top quality audio products, aren’t exactly forthcoming about the Grand Enigma. Reportedly, the world’s most expensive speaker system is entirely unique. What we do know is that the system was tested by a team of specialists and installed in a cellar in Belgium. Grand Exquisite, Kharma’s second most expensive speaker system, commands a mere $220,000 price tag.

1. Transmission Audio’s Ultimate
$2,000,000

At $2 million, Transmission Audio’s Ultimate system is truly the pinnacle of bank-breaking speaker systems. I’d wager it sounds pretty good, as well.

Ultimate consists of twelve 500W speakers, an Audio Laboratory BP-1 dual-mono power amp and a BC-1 preamp. In addition to the already impressive array of speakers, Ultimate also features forty 15” subwoofers and another twenty-four 8” woofers. On the high-midrange and high frequency levels, ribbon technology is employed for high fidelity and reliability.

Best of all, in case that isn’t expensive enough for you, Transmission Audio founder Bo Bengstonn can bring the total wattage up to 20kW for an additional $500,000.

Clearaudio Statement Turntable

This expensive stereo system includes JBL speakers that cost nearly $70,000 per pair, four 18-inch Velodyne subwoofers ($52,000), five Krell power amplifiers ($163,000) and a Mark Levinson pre-amplifier ($54,500). Then, of course, there’s the eye catching Clearaudio Statement Turntable, which adds another $137,000 to the overall cost of Audio’s expensive system.

The world’s most expensive stereo system isn’t for audiophiles alone, though. It also includes Pioneer’s BDP-LX 70 blu ray player and Toshiba’s HD-EXI for HD-DVD’s. SIM2’s HAT-500 projector ($68,000) provides video output, making this system as desirable for home cinema buffs as it is for audiophiles.

Unfortunately, the listening room at IFA 2007 wasn’t quite up to the challenge provided by Audio’s expensive system. Background noise made the improvement in sound quality nearly imperceptible.

Becoming popular in the late 1800’s, drum kits were revolutionized by the invention of the bass drum pedal that allowed a drummer to play on several percussion instruments at once like the snare, bass, and cymbals. Drum kits were popularized in the roaring twenties when their deep sounds and bright tones became a necessary staple on the New Orleans jazz circuit.

The introduction of new drums and accessories like the tom-toms and high hat cymbals during the late 1920s and 30s made drum kits more expensive and helped revolutionize drumming techniques for many of the most recognizable names in music.

Standard drum sets include a bass drum, a snare drum, several cymbals and tom toms. Drummers will often include other percussion accessories like woodblocks, cowbells and electronics to customize their sound. Like most everything else, the more you customize our kit, the more expensive it will become.

If you are shopping for new drums, prepare to spend at least $500. Or even up to $5000 for the most expensive custom drums. Or perhaps if you like vintage instruments, then you might be interested in “Moon the Loon’s” custom made 1968 Premier drum kit. Keith Moon’s aged drum kit luckily survived his antics on and off stage and now is the most expensive drum kit in the world. In 2004, Christie’s London auctioned the drum kit for $252,487 or £139,650.

Keith Moon is often regarded as one the greatest all time rock and roll drummer. His unique style was most likely attributed to the fact that he was not always relied upon to keep time while playing with The Who. This allowed him to improvise and further develop his own style of drumming.

Flutes fall into the category of woodwinds and unlike other similar instruments produce their sound without using a reed. Flutes produce sound using the flow of air against an edge. Generally called a flautist or flutist, the flute is known for its pleasant and sweet sounding tones that easily blend with various other instruments.

Flutes are made of various types of metals often with intricate designs and craftsmanship. The first types of flute-like instruments were made of bones and tusks from animals like mammoths and swans.

Nowadays, flute manufacturers like the Powell Company use precious metals to make their flutes because of their denseness, attractive luster and malleability. Silver, gold and platinum alloy are the most used of the precious metals. Platinum alloy flutes are thought to be the best sounding flutes because of their dark, penetrating sound as well as its ability to maintain stable pitches with different dynamic levels.

Generic Flute

William Kincaid, the world-renowned flutist and teacher was the proud owner and player of a flute that would become the world’s most expensive flute. The platinum flute he performed with until his death in 1967 was made in 1939 by the Verne Q. Powell Company, and was exhibited in the New York City World’s Fair held in that same year.

Christie’s auctioned the expensive flute in 1986 for an unbelievable $187,000. Kincaid’s other accolades include a faculty position at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, spots in both Philadelphia and New York City’s Symphony Orchestras and the C. Hartman Kuhn Award.

The piano was originally bought by Lennon in December 1970 and delivered to a studio at his home in Tittenhurst Park in Berkshire, England. He composed and recorded the song “Imagine” on it and was filmed playing the song on it for the first time for his wife, Yoko Ono, and the Plastic Ono band. Believed to be a piece of British history by many, the most expensive piano in the world sold at auction in the year 2000 for £1.45 million (about US $2.1 million) to George Michael after a “who’s who” bidding war that included several other British celebrities.

A Steinway & Sons Model Z

After using the world’s most expensive piano to record songs for an album, George Michael returned the piano to the Liverpool museum that housed it prior to his ownership. He stated that “the piano was not the type of thing that should be in storage somewhere or being protected, it should be seen by people.”

Of course, that doesn’t help anyone with seven figure budget and an urge to own the most expensive piano on the market. Luckily for anyone like that, Kuhn Studio and Bösendorfer Pianos have created a very pricey piano.

The Kuhn-Bösendorfer piano, as well as the accompanying bench, is set with 100,000 hand-cut, polished gems by glass artist Jon Kuhn. Kuhn’s glasswork is known for its luminescent quality and is featured permanently in over thirty-five museums, including the New YorkMetropolitan Museum of Modern Art and the White House Permanent Collection.

The Bösendorfer piano on which the diamonds are set is no less deserving of praise. Bösendorfer has been a name in the piano industry known for voice and playing sensitivity since 1828.

The Kuhn- Bösendorfer line of pianos will soon be available for public consumption. Anyone wishing to own the most expensive piano available can expect to shell out $1.2 million for the privilege.

A Kuhn-Bösendorfer piano

One expensive violin, the Lady Tennant Stradivarius, was sold by Christie’s New York in April 2005 for $2.03 million US dollars. There have been private sales of similar violins crafted by Stradivari which probably exceeded this costly figure. This expensive violin was originally owned by Charles Lafont, and the name comes from Sir Charles Tennant who purchased it for his wife in 1900. Antonio Stradivari (1644-1737), the luthier who created the instrument, is believed to have created 1,100 violins in Cremona, Italy, and 650 of those are believed to still exist.

A Del Gesu

Even rarer than Stradivari instruments, however, are those created by Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesù (1698-1744). Considered Stradivari’s only rival, Guarneri also worked in Cremona. One of his violins recently became not only the world’s most expensive violin but also the world’s most expensive musical instrument when it was purchased by Russian lawyer and violinist Maxim Viktorov.

The violin in question, a 250-year-old piece once owned by Tsar Alexander II’s court violinist, was sold to Viktorov at a Sotheby’s auction in New York for nearly $4 million USD. Viktorov only played it a little before purchasing it. After that, he refused to play it until Israeli virtuoso Pinchas Zukerman had performed with it.

Zukerman played two concerts with the world’s most expensive violin—one before a private audience of Moscow’s social elite and one public performance at the Moscow Conservatory.

Since then, MP3 players have become as ubiquitous as cell phones—and they’re status symbols in the same way cell phones are, as well. A variety of expensive MP3 players have been released in the past decade. What follows are the most expensive MP3 players in the world.

TrekStor i.Beat Organix gold

Wowing attendees at CeBIT 2006, the TrekStor i.Beat Organix gold MP3 player was one of the first luxury MP3 players. Cast in 18 karat gold and covered with 63 one carat diamonds, TrekStor’s gold MP3 player sold for $20,000 on Amazon. The player’s technical specifications included a gigabyte of memory, a Lithium-polymer battery that allowed an operating time of twenty-five hours, an FM radio, SRS WOW surround sound and even an audio recorder for note-taking.

The Presidential

Over twice as expensive, however, is the Douglas.J Presidential MP3 player by London-based Meng Duo Ltd. When you order your own Presidential, you need to choose not only the gold used in the casing (white or yellow) but also the physical configuration of the diamond buttons set in the front of the player. This expensive digital audio player includes a gigabyte of memory, a 65k color screen for video playback and support for a plethora of audio and video file formats. The Presidential is possibly the most expensive MP3 player in the world at around $45,000. The price includes Class 85 membership to get you exclusive access to a small group of clubs as well as hand delivery of your blinged out MP3 player anywhere in the world.

The iDiamond

A contender for the title of world’s most expensive MP3 player has recently surfaced, however, in the iDiamond. This diamond-encrusted version of the iPod Shuffle was offered as part of an auction at the Feast of Albion. The auction also included a chauffeured Jaguar XJ and VIP tickets to see Roger Waters’ final performance of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. The iPod and accompanying headphones are made of 18k white and pink gold. There are 430 diamonds on the iPod and another 118 in the headphones. While its estimated worth is around $40,000, its exact value is up in the air since it is a unique item sold as part of a larger auction prize. That fact means it could easily outclass the Douglas.J Presidential as the most expensive MP3 player in the world.

“Blackie”, Eric Clapton’s favorite mid-career modified Strat has been surpassed in value and is no longer the most expensive guitar ever, despite that it was bought for $950,000 USD in 2004 by a guitar archaeologist.

The latest most expensive electric guitar in the world dethroned its predecessor at an auction in Doha, Qatar on November 16th, 2005. The Strat was signed by several rock musicians to benefit a tsunami charity, ‘Reach out to Asia’. It was bought one year ago by Qatar’s royal family for a million dollars and donated back to the Asia Program, bringing in $2.7 million USD at the more recent auction, whose attendees included Former President Bill Clinton. Technically, the guitar has generated a total of $3.7 million USD, making it the most expensive guitar yet.

Signees of this expensive electric guitar included Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Brian May, Jimmy Page, David Gilmour, Jeff Beck, Pete Townsend, Mark Knopfler, Ray Davis, Liam Gallagher, Ronnie Wood, Tony Iommi, Angus & Malcolm Young, Paul McCartney, Sting, Ritchie Blackmore, Def Leppard, and Bryan Adams, the coordinator of the project.

Vinyl is alive and kicking because the most passionate and wealthy audiophiles know that CD’s or mp3’s sound can‘t touch anything on these—the most expensive turntables.

Continuum Caliburn – up to $112,000

Vinyl isn’t dead, and The Continuum Caliburn turntable proves this by aiming for audio perfection. The price for this expensive turntable starts at $90,000 and goes up to $112,000, depending on finishes and includes some amazing technology. The tonearm alone sells for $12,000. The turntable uses a magnetically levitated magnesium platter suspended in a vacuum to assure there are no vibrations.

Clearaudio Statement – $125,000

This 770-pound hunk of wood and aluminum features a magnetically-driven sub-platter that completely eliminates contact with the main platter and real time speed control. A 176 lb pendulum ensures that the platters are always level and a high speed microprocessor-controlled motor drive unit, similar to that used in the Mars rover, keeps the records turning.

Basis Work of Art – $150,000

This Work of Art uses a “mass-spring-dampener” suspension system to completely isolate the turntable from the listening environment while an AC synchronous instrument motor provides the speed-stability necessary to put the most ardent audiophiles at ease. The Work of Art’s support structure is so rigid that audible resonance is eliminated.

Goldmund Reference II – $300,000

The successor to the 25-year-old Goldmund Reference is a high-precision turntable with level calibration to less than 1/100th of a millimeter and its stylus, pivot and counterweight “perfectly aligned for optimal dynamic balance.” Three Teflon tubes prevent vibration of the wires as they carry signal from the turntable. The turntable also features a digital processor that provides RIAA correction which, I’m guessing, has nothing to do with those people who sue people for downloading MP3 files.
The world’s most expensive turntable is limited to a mere twenty-five units with only five being made per year.

[Thanks to D]

iPods are an expensive and ever more popular electronic device. As the iPod has spread, so have the attachments and systems designed to interact with the iPod.

But here is probably the most expensive iPod accessory, and definitely the most expensive speakers being marketed for iPods. The most expensive iPod speakers are Hammacher Schlemmer Studio-Quality Triode-Tube iPod Speakers.

From the product website:

This is the first tube-based iPod® speaker system, producing a luxurious warmth and clarity prized by audiophiles and previously difficult to reproduce outside of custom-built amplifiers of a handful of live musicians.

Developed and built by German audio technicians, the system consists of an aluminum-encased amplifier housing four powerful Class-A tubes which glow gently as they generate warm, low-octave sound that is virtually distortion-free, considered by audiophiles to be the most pleasing to the human ear. The tube amplifier smooths over distortions found in modern digital recordings while helping to compensate and minimize the quality loss inherent in compressed audio such as MP3s. The matching double-cone, full-range speakers—designed solely for use with this system—faithfully generate warm, realistic tones using a single, highly synchronized chassis per speaker (reducing ill-timed and out of phase audio).

The set of speakers will only put you back a mere $3,999.95.

5. Puff Daddy (featuring The Notorious B.I.G. and Busta Rhymes) – “Victory”
$2.7 million

Taking place in the year 3002 CE, this video features Puff Daddy as Contestant #5. Dennis Hopper and Danny DeVito both make cameos—as a dictatorial president and a live action reporter, respectively—as Contestant #5 is chased through dark streets and rooftops by the armed forces of Chase TV.

4. Madonna – “Bedtime Story”
$5 million

An experimental video set to an equally experimental song, the “Bedtime Story” video consists of surreal, dreamlike images. Throughout the video, Madonna floats, gives birth to doves and ends up having her eyes and mouth transposed.

3. Madonna – “Die Another Day”
$6 million
Another song by the pop diva, this one was released alongside the James Bond film of the same name. The video shows Madonna being tortured in a number of ways while Good Madonna and Bad Madonna duel with a variety of weapons—from fencing foils to harpoon guns—in her subconscious. After its release, “Die Another Day” became the most successful 007 theme since the 80s.

2. Michael Jackson (featuring Janet Jackson) – “Scream”
$7 million

One of Michael Jackson’s most successful videos, “Scream” is a black and white science fiction/pop masterpiece that has both Jacksons dancing along the walls and ceilings of a spaceship while anime and pop art are featured on various displays throughout. The video received widespread approval, including several MTV Video Music Awards and even a Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video.

1. 30 Seconds to Mars – “From Yesterday”
$13 million?

The first American music video to be shot entirely in the People’s Republic of China, this expensive music video has 30 Seconds to Mars transported to ancient China where they play for a child emperor. The video features more than 300 extras and was directed by Bartholomew Cubbins, an alias for actor and Mars frontman Jared Leto. However, the $13 million figure is disputed—is this the world’s most expensive music video?