Leaderboard

I remember a CES show in Chicago in the early 80s. My partner and I were in a suite at a nice hotel listening to some Conrad Johnson equipment. Bill Johnson was waiting for a "special" guest to arrive before he would begin his demo. The room was packed except for on chair in the middle of the front row. After about 20 minutes we had decided to go when a hush fell over the room and a old, slight man with a tweed jacket, Hush Puppies, a thin leather briefcase in one hand and a smoldering pipe in the other was ushered into the room and he took the empty chair. Immediately the lights went down and an engineer moved to the front where he used a pointer to illustrate various "component" parts in a photo of an amp with the cover removed. Then he stepped back and several minutes of "Jazz at the Pawnshop" played. Then a pause and "Lincoln Mayorga and distinguished colleagues" started and finally a few minutes of "The 1812 Overture". Then silence, the lights came up and the demo was over. Dick and I happened to be standing near the door. When the little old man walked out we noticed "Stereophile Magazine" embroidered on his shirt and a name tag that said "Julian Hirsch". He said something in a whisper to Bill Johnson and walked out. That was the only time I ever saw him. A lot of people believed him to be the greatest audio man of all. Jim