I first became aware of AHC from his 1980s Stereophile equipment reviews. Largely based on his rave review of the Apogee Duetta II, I went out of my way to audition them at two different dealers and bought a pair, which I still use as my main speakers. Around that period he also did a Stereophile survey of top cartridges, and based on his review of the Monster Cable Alpha Genesis 1000, I bought one of those, which I also am still using (has over 1000 hours on it and still sounds like I remember it sounding in the 1990s). I think he also reviewed the Eminent Technology ET-2 tonearm in Stereophile, which is the tonearm I still use on my SOTA Star Sapphire.
I later learned of his work in the national security field when I saw him on TV, and assumed it was the same guy--not a common name, and he seemed the right age to be the reviewer.