Pioneers in the history of higher end/accurate sounding components....and you..

Not a contest, just what good people that made good sounding "gear" helped you on your journey?

Mine would be Henry Kloss, Tom Holman, Saul Marantz, and some very, very good people representing those and other companies.  In going to the early CES shows in Chicago, and events in NYC and other cities, some of my best education, experiences and "times" were with some of the "other" people that worked for those companies that were not the big names.  When the store I worked at was a major Advent speaker dealer I/we spent time at the Drake Hotel in Chicago with some simply great, helpful and wise people from Advent.