He spent his life building a $1 million stereo. The real cost was unfathomable.

@prefab Yup.

And there are most always different sides to most things. 

And why the two grandfather clocks?

Pretty sad story all around. Weird system, def not worth the money, time and terrible strife and division he caused in his family and sold for piece meal pennies on the dollar when he died. 

Wow.  I mean..........wow.  What a tale, almost worthy of a Shakespeare byline.

I venture to say that, sadly, he suffered from an obsessive disorder that clearly prevented him from maintaining what most would consider "normal" relationships with his family, perhaps others.  While the emotional methodology behind his pursuit left a family in tatters, and his level of audiophilia could only be considered malignant, I have to believe that when not set to "movie", his system may well have been THE finest personal sound system ever assembled in a home environment, never to be duplicated.  I'd have given an eye tooth to have heard it.  It's final disposition is tragic, IMO.

RIP, brother.  

And why the two grandfather clocks?

Note the mirror placements of other objects in the room (speakers, tables, lamps, dog figurines, floor rugs, etc).  

Anal retentiveness to the Nth degree.

@srs148  that Is the most disturbing  story of all. When a man is not capable  of keeping his word over a few dollars you know what the problem s stem from with his family.  On the other  side nothing worse than making a deal and after the buyer shows up they decide  they are going to pay less. Only one way there yes or no negotiating  is over. If you see something  you don't like you say I didn't  realize,e this say no thank you and leave.  I very much dislike when people cannot stand by what the say.that is not gentleman  like behavior.