Sterophile's not so nice review of Bryston

I don't think so either.

Stereophile reviews have never been very reliable, but they ARE very powerful. The sad part is they can make or break a company with their reviews.

Come to think of it Bryston never did get great reviews. In fact they currently have a better following than ever. Most of my friends use Bryston amps for subwoofers and I have heard Maggies demoed with Bryston amps with good results. I said good, not great.

In the past Bryston was known for their reliability and 20 year warranty.

Do you actually believe reviewers buy equipment? Their equipment is either on long term or permanent loan. When a reviewer says he likes it so much he is going to buy it, you can bet it was a gift.

In the late '90s a well known and trusted reviewer started his own magazine. In his review of a speaker he said he was buying the review sample because he liked them so much. The speakers immediately showed up in a classified ad for 50% of retail. I recognized his phone number because I sent him interconnects which were never returned.

It is unfortunate when a product receives a bad review. It is unfortunate for the manufacturer and for anyone that owns that product because it would make it impossible to sell. Maybe the manufacturers should be more careful about what reviewer they send their products to. If you have a product like Bryston don't send it to a reviewer that only reviews the most expensive equipment because that is what he will compare your product to and if he mainly listens to tubes, forget it. It's all relative.

So, who is at fault in the case of the Bryston amp? Bryston didn't like the review, so they cancelled their ads or Bryston stopped advertising and got a bad review? Which came first?