As good & thorough & informative as many Stereophile reviews & ratings can be, they have their shortcomings. John Atkinson seems to be heavily steered towards solid state electronics because they almost always test better or at least closer to their specs. For sure specs have some value but great sound is really the only true test. There are many relatively inexpensive solid state amps (class A/B & especially class D) that test better than many excellent sounding tube amps but in 5 seconds w/ virtually any kind of music, it would be clear which sounds vastly superior. Are we truly supposed to believe that the Benchmark Preamp that he said tested better than any other preamp he's ever tried actually sounds better than the really expensive, high solid state & tubed units they also recommend? I doubt it. I also think any equipment review should include tube & solid state ancillary equipment because as we know, synergy between things can create vastly different results in any direction there's often no predicting how things will turn out. .
I also think Stereophile should mention in an equipment what other other competing products are in a similar price range & worth comparing to. They rarely do this & I think many would that valuable. I just hope that those company's who advertise in their magazine don't get preference for favorable reviews. For example, Basis Turntables have long been amongst the very best you can get for build & sound quality but they never list any of them at any of their price ranges in their recommended lists? The Absolute Sound has thought very highly of them since they first came around in the 80"s. I did notice a full page ad in Stereophile for Basis so let's see if that changes.......