Help- audiophile husband just dies

Sorry for your loss Julie. 

If I were you, I'd contact the Philadelphia Audio Society.  I don't have any personal experience with the group, but if they're still active (it looks like much of the web presence is a bit dated), then presumably they've got enough sense of community that they'll help you without trying to steal valuable equipment at a fraction of its value.

https://paag.groupsite.com/main/summary

https://www.facebook.com/reddressvinyl/

I'll also respond via e-mail...

Julie, if you do find out the brands and models of the gear in the collection, you can put that information in https://www.hifishark.com/ and see what recent sale prices have been.  Audiogon.com also has a bluebook option you can buy that offers similar functionality.

I don't really get the warnings about accepting help from local audiophiles.

Sure, be on the lookout for grifters, but getting a full list of items is useful. They'll give an estimate of value and Julie can have Tammy @ audiogon look up the average resale price of each item to get another opinion. Then it's just a question of how quickly she wants to sell. If not in a hurry, posting online and waiting for offers will maximize profit. If in a hurry, selling everything to a dealer will do.

Regardless, getting the list and then average resale will allow all offers to be considered for fairness and she will not be taken advantage of.