"You suggest I can't trust the reviewers at Stereophile (nor I assume Absolute Sound), so whose judgment can I trust?"
Lol. I presume the overall question here is "can the reviews be trusted from any or some of the otherwise well known, even highly respected pro reviewers, to basically tell it like it is, as close to reality and in perspective as possible, at all times and, more specifically, from the Mag's you suggested
Well honestly, you do generally find that reviews from those particular mags you mentioned to more accurately "tell it like it is", yes, and can generally review and critique products with enough specificity to help you assess what level of performance and quality your dealing with, sure. (more on that later). And they certainly are more reliable than the less niche specific mass publications that do reviews - especially the ones that do mostly mid-fi to entry level gear, certainly. In fact, with these later types of rags, the reviews are easily spotted for what they are, and that's skewed tow awards giving unspotted, overly enthusiastic and generally favorable reviews for products from large cap companies, that most always happen to feature ads several times in any one magazine! The reviewed products here tend to feature companies that have more money, feature much more aggressive advertising, and somehow never seem to get negative reviews. Go figure
But even with reviews from the magazines you mentioned, however, I've still- on many of occasions - have found many reviews over the years -yes, even from otherwise highly respected reviewers - which tend to loosen up their critiques somewhat, push otherwise good products up a category or so, generalize a bit more than usual, relax their critical positions, and paint a little less detailed picture than usual.
I mean let's face it, most businesses struggle at one time or another, and yet they still have agendas (like all of us) to pay their bills, keep up their lifestyles, and also keep their sponsors happy! (you don't really think magazine subscriptions and sales alone keeps ANY av magazine afloat, do you?) In the end, when push comes to shove, I 1000% guarantee you that it's all business baby! You can take that to the bank...because they do.
Now, all of that aside, the bottom line of reality for reading reviews, in an effort to sort out specific product applications, the actuality of it is is that any review will only get you in the ball park of trying to figure out product selection for your personal application! Even if you read an otherwise "right on" critical review of a given product, and think you have it all nailed down, as to what it is, and how you think it integrates into some system, the truth is you can only really find out how the product will perform IN THE CONTEXT OF YOUR OWN SYSTEM, in your acoustical environment, setup, lifestyle, and how well it matches up and integrates with the rest of your gear. So it all depends, and things are relative, if subjective at best, yes.
I cannot tell you how many times I've taken Stereophile Class A and/or Class B rated gear, and matched products up, and got horrible performance! Basically, some pieces ultimately work with the other pieces in your system, while others will not.
Impedance matching issues, sound characteristics complementing or opposing each other - magnifying or balancing out potential issues - matter! Personal tastes and view points? Well we all own different gear ultimately, for a reason! To each his own. What you think is bright, might be considered accurate by someone else. What works in a reviewers system, to his tastes, might be the worst choice possible for what you have going on, and so forth
When you read a review, you always have to default to the fact that there are lots of variables to ultimately take into consideration, when you're trying to assess things, and make judgments. You must get your hands on the product, and see how well it works with the rest of the family of products and variables in play in your system. That's it!...bottom line.
So can you "trust reviews" from high end mags? Well I for one can't go there. I cannot blanketly read a review and know for certain that a specific piece of equipment, unqualified, is gunna be the piece for me, and end up performing exactly like I envisioning it doing, based on what what someone else suggests, coming from his/her perspective. I can only get a basic idea, and then I have to do my part if I think I'm interested. I mean if simply came down to finding articles that gave the best reviews, you could simply go down and buy all the most highly rated products in your price bracket, and buy them! - and expect to then have the best sound or performance possible. Well it doesn't work that way, not even by a long shot.
You of course can do as your wish. But my experience suggest that reading reviews is simply to gather information, search out potential candidates, and also for "ear candy" and enjoyment factor. In the end, I personally put limited weight on them.
It'd be like someone you trust telling you you're gunna like some kind of food, clothing, car, sporting good, vacation destination, mate preference, potential best friend, lifestyle choice, whatever! In the end, only you can tell by giving it a go for yourself.
Hope that helps clarify my perspective.
