Well, as a musician once said, "writing about music is like dancing about architechture." There comes a point where searching the lexicon yields diminishing returns and futility, especially when trying to describe the elusive properties of sound and music. But I would agree there is a suspicious plethora of glowing reviews. I'm new to the audiophile world, but as a professional pianist and studio musician, one exception I've found are the reviews found at Mix Magazine's Field Test Archive, http://www.mixonline.com/resources/ftesttoc.cfm. While the reviews are on professional recording equipment (and you guys should consider Genelec 1029A's, Westlake Audio or Meyer Sound Labs for loudspeaker alternatives), most are objectively reported in real-world applications, and many are accompanied by lab bench tests to support the conclusions. Another exception is Keyboard Magazine, which is far more objective and willing to call an overpriced heap what it is. Wish I could have found the same objective comments online or in mags, but ended up talking to Albert Von Schweikert on the phone before purchasing a used set of VM-2's, and am quite happy with them.
Honest Reviewers ?
Ever wonder why 99% of all reviwers seem to use the same expressions. No ? Well, I sure have been thinking about this. It's not that I have nothing better to do, but I keep asking why do they say the same things like .... " It sounds like a veil has been lifted" or "it sounds like the glass has been wiped clean" and the current favorite is "it just gets out of the way and let the music play ". Stereophile and the Absolute Sound seem to compete for the most stupid cliches. It appears that CABLE reviews will make reviewers go wild with verbal intoxication. Just sit and think about this crazy idea I am about to suggest. A group of 2 or 3 honest people with high expertise in the audio arena deciding to call the shots as they see them ! They would compare equipment or cables against each other and list their relative strengths, they would even offer opinions on any possible synergy between equipment and cables, if such a thing exists. They would have no fear. What a Concept !