You didn’t know him Brad, nothing he said about real instruments in real space was original this all goes back decades before he started the magazine. If I recall correctly Holt started Stereophile with the same concept prior to Harry’s AS. I grant him that initially his writing was interesting and it reeled you in but as his influence grew so did his ego. Problem was he could write but not hear, he wouldn’t know what a high end system should sound like if it bit hard in his fat ass but he convinced people that he was the maven. All you had to do was visit Sea Cliff and hear it for yourself. All the crap he used to talk about his people and setup was a big fat lie, there were multiple systems sitting on the floor in the back room humming and buzzing while he supposedly reviewed them. The main system was a joke all you could hear was mud and bass boom because he was probably half deaf but he had his dumb ass groupies around him who kept him going and contributed to the bullshit. Worst thing about Harry was that he kept good brands down on purpose because they didn’t kiss ass the way some did. It was always the same brands he promoted while promoting himself as the king telling us all how he sent an amp or preamp for revision and then it came back perfect because of his ignorant feedback. He derailed the industry and put many good people out of business while leading unsuspecting consumers down every wrong path until they didn’t know top from bottom, many are still under the influence. Yes we were also naive for believing without verifying but that doesn’t absolve him. Directly or indirectly in the end his influence was what changed the industry for the worse, IMO of course. This thread started off with
@RoyGregory ’s article a long time insider about this fact only he can’t be as blunt as I am. Don’t think the idolized reviewer days are over some still remain untouchable while more informed other reviewers get a lot of flack or get the recognition because they don’t pile it on the same way. Fortunately there are old timers who‘re bringing things around carving their own path and giving their customer an education while offering an experience. Look at Bob @Rhapsody’s showroom and now showrooms, a lot of effort and thought has gone into them.
@Elliot G., we have a difference of opinion about some matters but he’s bringing new to the consumer and opening his doors for people to see and hear for themselves. Of course there are others too but both are on this forum and have been around for a while, they deserve recognition.
david