I have been a friend of Ezra for about ten years. He often came to my home to hear new gear and I often visited his home to hear his new "toys" and help him setup or fine tune his system. The next statement is not an EXAGGERATION. He literally had hundreds of different, normally the latest/greatest pieces of stereo equipment coming and going in his system! J. Gordon Holt and Harry Pearson in their entire careers never heard as much gear that the my friend Ezra did in his life!
No piece of gear was ever a permanent addition to Ezra’s collection. He had more high-end gear coming through his doors on a yearly basis then all the Stereo Salons in the greater Chicago land area. I really never had to attend Stereo Shows to hear the current crop of front-ends, line-stages, amplifiers, wires, and speakers because I had heard them at my good friend’s house already.
When I and the rest of Ezra’s listening posse (Nick the judge-Mike-Mike-Allan-Bob) received that phone call from him to come over to hear what he just got in-house, we all waited for his "famous" statement, "this is the finest and best sounding-fill-in-the-blank I have ever heard. We rolled are eyes in a good natured way because we had heard this thousands of times before!
Ezra was a big hearted man, by the way he looked very much like Count Basie, and his wife and family members are warm gracious people, my sorrows to their lose, and you were welcomed to his house in the warmest and kind fashion you could imagine.
Yes, Ezra was a good soul who was a "meshuggeneh" (meaning a screwball in a joking way) when it came to his passion regarding having to have the latest and "BEST" stereo system in the civilized world!
I, therefore nominate Ezra as the "GOAT" and he belongs in the Hall Of High End Stereo Fame. I’m sure if there is an afterlife, my man is already putting together the best system he ever heard in this or any life, indeed.
