I listen to videos on YT mainly to entertain myself and keep myself informed. Of course, we can’t take these guys’ recommendations literally because they necessarily benefit from making these videos, otherwise why would they make them?
I love Steve Guttenberg’s musical choices and colorful shirts but he obviously is just a very sophisticated saleman. I love Steve Huff’s sound room where you see the nature outside, but he changes his reference equipment so often and uses so many superlatives that he discredits himself. I like A British Audiophile for his professionalism and because he’s down to earth, but his reference equipement is limited. I also like the young Jay’s iyagi because his enthusiasm reminds me of the wonder I had when I first became interested in audio, 40 years ago... I rarely listen to the others for different reasons. Some don’t have the required experience, others have questionable credentials, and some are just buffoons.
When I’m interested in audio equipment, I first read online magasines like The Absolute Sound, 6 Moons (and a few others)... then I read ALL the threads on Audiogon... some of our members have knowledge which far exceeds what can be found on YT and the specialized press. Before purchasing my DAC and my integrated amp, I spent hundreds of hours reading on this forum and, in both cases, I wasn’t disappointed with my purchases.