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...in 1986 HP had the first (and only) TAS writer's meeting at Sea Cliff (thanks to Steven Stone for the photo).Of the people who have been identified:
In front - Jeff Goggin
Front row - John Nork (?), Kevin Messmer, unknown, Christina Yuin, Roger Kagan, unknown, unknown
Next row - unknown, Brian Gallant, Fred Kaplan, unknown, Tam Henderson
Next row - Sallie Reynolds, the late Bob Reina, Andy Benjamin, Robert Greene, unknown, Sheryl Lee Wilson, unknown
Back row - Jack Orbach, Art Dudley, HP, me, Frank Doris, Tom Miiller, David Wilson, John W. Coolidge (thanks E-Stat)
The good old days.
Edits: 07/24/15 07/24/15 07/25/15Follow Ups:
(Slight editing is mine, and I've put JG's bold-face additions within double asterisks.) "I was recently contacted about this photo by another former TAS employee (Donna Resnick, who worked in the office and was also Harry's next door neighbor) and was told that it had been taken at HP's first "Friendship Party."In that context, I wasn't sure it was me in the front row--I guess I've lost some weight since then, eh?--as I had no recollection of having attended that party.
But in this context, I do recall the event and Yes, that no doubt is me in the font row.
As for the others, here's what I can add:
In front--Jeff Goggin
Front row--John Nork **(I don't think this is him, as I recall him being much taller and having a beard)**, Kevin Messmer, unknown, Christina Yuin, Roger Kagan, **Margaret Shearer (she worked in the TAS office)**, unknown **(not sure, but I think it was the cartoonist from Austin, TX ... something Schwartz?)**
Next row--unknown, Brian Gallant, Fred Kaplan, **Ron Levine (fairly certain, but not absolutely certain)**, Tam Henderson
Next row--Sallie Reynolds, the late Bob Reina, Andy Benjamin, Robert Greene, **Kevin Conklin**, Sheryl Lee Wilson, unknown
Back row--Jack Orbach, Art Dudley, HP, (mkuller), Frank Doris, Tom Miiller, David Wilson, **John W. Cooledge**.
Also, the room in the photo isn't the room where the IRS lived, but HP's former bedroom, prefire. IIRC what Harry told me, when the house was originally built in 1886, this was one of two rooms that were divided by an arch and a pair of doors. The doors could be closed to separate the two rooms or left open to combine them. I can't recall if the doors were still in place and just kept closed when I arrived in at TAS in 1984 or if they had been replaced with a solid wall, but I do recall that he used the two rooms separately, with the front one being a listening room and the rear one his bedroom.
Before the fire, Harry occupied only the first floor of the original house and rented the second floor to a tenant--imagine living upstairs from him with all that sound below!--as well as the two apartments in the addition that had been added to rear of the house sometime around WWII. (He once told me the only way he could afford to buy the house was to rent most of it and use the income to help pay his mortgage.)
Only the less-damaged original house was initially rebuilt after the fire, and the addition was stabilized to prevent it from collapsing and sealed to protect it from the elements until such time as he could afford to rebuild it as well. During the reconstruction, Harry decided that he would live on the second floor and also that he would restore the house to its original floorplan, opening the two rooms into one. He had the arch restored but left out the doors (which could be easily added later) so he could use the combined room to review audio and audio-visual equipment. (To that end, there is a large screen on the wall behind the curtains that was initially used with a Barco projector setup.) The door on the right of the photo leads to a small closet where equipment not in use was stored.
Hope this helps and if I do think of any more names, I'll let you know...
JG"
I met JG in 1980 or '81 when he had a pair of Fulton Gold speakercable for sale in the local newspaper's classified ads; I don't remember if I bought it. We became best buddies and soon partners in Two Jeffreys Audio, a very-part-time retailer of high-end audio equipment that lasted a few years--I was employed full-time and soon got tired of the time spent on TJA. While TJA was still operating, JG left and went to work for Harry Pearson as Technical Director. He soon earned the moniker 'Dr. Negativo' from Harry, as he apparently could hear some negative aspects of equipment that Harry couldn't hear.
Jeff is still a goodbuddy and still lives a dozen or so miles east of me. Fortunately for him, he no longer is an audiofile.
Here's today's update from Jeff. Again, I've placed his additions within double asterisks.
"In front--Jeff GogginFront row--John Nork (I don't think this is him, as I recall him being much taller and having a beard), Kevin Messmer, unknown, Christina Yuin, Roger Kagan, Margaret Shearer (she worked in the TAS office), **Gary Oliver (not positive, but he was the cartoonist from Austin, TX)**
Next row--**Roger Modjeski (not positive, but he was my first thought)**, Brian Gallant, Fred Kaplan, Ron Levine (fairly certain), Tam Henderson
Next row--Sallie Reynolds, the late Bob Reina, Andy Benjamin, Robert Greene, Kevin Conklin, Sheryl Lee Wilson, **Dick Marsh (not positive, but I believe this is when he and Sallie Reynolds met.)**
Back row--Jack Orbach, Art Dudley, HP, me, Frank Doris, Tom Miiller, David Wilson, **John W. Cooledge**."
----------
Tin-eared audiofool, large-scale-Classical music lover, and damned-amateur fotografer.
William Bruce Cameron: "...not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."
Edits: 07/26/15
This group used to do the most objective reviews of the sound of components that has ever been done. Each used a relatively fixed group of reference components, familiar recorded material and, ultimately, reference to live unamplified music.
Only David Wilson went into manufacturing? And that too a very successful one. Did he give any indications of such aspirations then?
Cheers
Bill
Mike ande I knew Dave Wilson from our local audio group before Mike went off on his writing career. It was always obvious to me that Dave Wilson was aiming for the big time
...hi Dennis.
David Wilson began making his own speaker, which became the WATT, for monitoring his recordings in the studio in the late 1970s.
By the early 1980s he was already manufacturing them for the public. In about 1981 our audio society saw a demo of his huge WAMM speaker at Garland Audio in San Jose.
When David began reviewing for TAS in the mid-1980s, the agreement was he would not have anything to do with speaker reviews.
... thanks for posting that.
If you don't become the ocean, you'll be seasick every day.
—Leonard Cohen
Thanks for fhe pics , good old days ..? Ahhh , Old ..? Yes , good .. Err , debatable really , especially seeing the quality of other mags available at the time , TAS was nothing but a blip at the time ....
Regards
Edits: 07/24/15
Thanks for sharing.
It was certainly a large gathering.
...it was a two day weekend affair.One of the reasons for the gathering was for the writers to all be able to hear the latest updates to HP's big IRS system to recalibrate their sense of the state-of-the-art and what is possible in reproducing music in the home.
We all went in to his listening room two or three at a time for the demo - it was very impressive.
Tom Miiller told me he thought the new Koetsu Rosewood cartridge made the most significant difference.
Edits: 07/24/15
the "unknown" is Dr. John W Cooledge aka JWC.The good doctor has been a mentor of mine since I was a teenager and turned me on to electrostatic speakers with his Dayton-Wrights. With JWC, it was never a case of "Do you have a copy of Panufnik's Nocturne ?" It was "Which one do you want to hear?" His library exceeded that of HP, if not with all the special "white" albums HP acquired.
He continues to sing bass in the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and is found on several Telarc recordings where the chorus performed.
edit: That looks like Room #2 where the IRS once lived circa '80.
Edits: 07/23/15
Sucked my wallet dry with those "cursed" DWXG-8's--I had stacked pairs powered withbridged Electro Research A75's driving the Primary of the Transformer Direct(.025 Ohm!)
Sublime transparency and Moderate Volume but no Omph sadly--Then the troubles started
Arcing/Snap/crackle pop /etc --I managed to Silicon the Mylar holes with a Silicon dipped tip
of drinking straw diligently piercing the cover( while getting high on the slowly escaping
Sulfurhexaflouride--Ha!
only delayed the Inevitable failure--great while they lasted--and thanks to Mark Dystra for his
maintaining the faith for his customer
Good one MK for posting the snap--Kudos
Des
Edits: 07/25/15
In those days, Nelson Pass demonstrated his amps at shows using double pairs of Dayton-Wrights. His amps were specifically designed to drive them. I've been using a Stasis 3 for thirty five trouble-free years driving Acoustats.
I once assisted JWC in the process of replacing a panel. We had to pierce the outer diaphragm for access to bolting in the new panel. Once that was done, he used mylar tape to patch the diaphragm. And he had a cylinder of SF6 to refill the cabinet.
The funny part came afterwards. You may recall that SF6 has the opposite character of helium in that it is heavier than air. He put some in a cup. You couldn't see it but you could sense its presence if you put your finger inside. He inhaled a good bit and sang some choral piece - it sounded like Lurch at the Met!
I didn't know HP was a Beatles fan! [inane smiley thing goes here]
"You won't come back from Fletcher-Munson curve"-Jan and Dean
preproduction vinyl with blank covers.
The last time I visited several years ago, Michael Hobson brought him a collection of 45 RPM pressings of that ilk. They sounded superb on the 3.7s he had at the time.
I didn't really think HP was this guy. (link)
"You won't come back from Fletcher-Munson curve"-Jan and Dean
...thanks, Ralph.I knew he had been there but didn't recognize him.
He's on the right here.
Edits: 07/23/15
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