I was looking up something else and this turned up in my search results so I thought I’d contribute. My dad (JGH) was all about wanting to re-create the live listening experience at home, but he had enough knowledge of acoustics to know that it would never be the same as being in a concert hall (he actually wrote a textbook about the science of sound back in the 60s). As he got older he became more interested in recreating the movie theater experience at home. I remember when Tony Grimani from Lucasfilm came to our house to set up one of the first home THX systems. I remember watching Terminator 2 with the volume so loud that it knocked over his martini glass!
My dad was definitely a bitter and acerbic individual, but his sarcasm and wit was appreciated by his friends. I know that one of the things that my dad was most frustrated about was that when Stereophile was sold to Pearson, Larry Archibald and John Atkinson both got extremely well paid for it and my dad got nothing. From a business perspective it made sense, as he was merely a “contributor” at that point, but he felt that Stereophile capitalized on his image without ultimately rewarding him. Keep in mind he sold the magazine to Archibald for only a few thousand dollars (paid in cash!) back in the 80s, and although he tried to start many new projects (such as Laserfile magazine—I believe Laserphile was trademarked), his lack of focus ultimately doomed them all to eventual failure.
I think all I have left of my dad’s audio legacy at this point is a box full of audio cables and some old magazines. The rest was sold to settle his estate. I may have to sell the magazines off soon to pay my own bills, as life has gotten complicated.
Thanks for the walk down memory lane with this thread.