What should be mandatory in every professional published review-

@soix

In 15 years of reviewing I was never constrained from saying anything negative. Over that time I only wrote one negative review

I guess everyone gets a prize, kinda thing. Everyone is above average. No normal distribution which may be described as a bell curve.

Never constrained from saying anything negative. No, a better way of saying it is that you were perhaps sufficiently rewarded by writing only positive things.

Fraud. Yes, you can quote me on that.

@soix I know nothing of your actual experience.  I only know what you have written on these esteemed pages.

Should I be misguided, please share with the community here that in your 15 years of being a reviewer exactly why you provided only one negative review.

And for the sake of clarity and for the avoidance of doubt, define what constitutes a "negative review".

@soix 

The one product I did write a negative review on didn’t sound good to me 

 Is that enough clarity for you?

Yes.

@soix 

by the time a product rises to the point of getting a review it’s either a product from an established manufacturer who knows what they’re doing or a new product that is garnering a lot of interest due to good performance.

Well that just reduces the interest in any review to that of Bayesian logic and I copy from Wiki.  Dull, boring and handwaving reviews are just so not interesting.  Precise criticism and a skeptical approach is what I prefer.  But then I am not an audiophile.

Bayesian statistics is a theory in the field of statistics based on the Bayesian interpretation of probability where probability expresses a degree of belief in an event. The degree of belief may be based on prior knowledge about the event, such as the results of previous experiments, or on personal beliefs about the event.

@millercarbon 

How long can it float? 

About a day until the funeral directors come in to collect.

After that it is the duty of the plumbers.

@soix

Just as I wouldn’t say something sounds good when it doesn’t, nor would I ever say something sounds bad when it doesn’t just to be “critical.”

My bad.  I meant (in hindsight)  to convey the word critique,  Not criticism.

Must be a tough gig.