Would you donate a dollar to have these Members Review a Product?

Nice YouTube vid @gdnrbob 
It seems the Stereophile "test lab" is a (sort of messy) walk-in closet?
This may explain why the Wizard of Oz had a curtain.
I hope there is another room where he kept the JC-1s.

Agree with @cleeds on the accusation of "kickbacks."
However, regarding reviewer reliability, I have seen reviews where I have questioned the reviewer's conclusions after seeing that their review system and sonic preferences were not well aligned with the gear being reviewed.

Some manufacturers (namely over at Audio Circle) pre-launch gear with a "Tour" of specific equipment, which consists of a pre-tour sign-up list, and a commitment by each person on the tour stop to:

• pay shipping to the next person on the tour, and 
• to post a short review or comments of their impressions of the gear.  

I participated in the Tortuga tube buffer tour about 1-2 years ago and things were civilized and well-run. 
As a twist on the OP's idea, maybe the folks here could talk a few manufacturers into offering a "tour" of certain equipment, either popular pieces or maybe new-to-the-market equipment where the word is not out yet.  The manufacturer gets free publicity from this group and the benefit that only people interested in the specific equipment on tour would sign up, which means the reviewer's ancillary system equipment and their personal sonic preferences should be aligned with the gear being reviewed.  One way to start would be for Audiogon to organize tours of gear by manufacturers who advertise on this site.

@tomic601 

my opinion of short term “ shootouts “ is pretty low

If my recall is correct, I believe we were supposed to move the gear along to the next tour stop after about 10 days.  Certainly less time than a professional reviewer would spend with it but enough to allow two weekends and way more time (in our own systems) than we would get with it at an audio show or in a retail showroom.  Nothing is perfect but I believed it was enough time for me to sort out the overall performance of the piece, especially since I was introducing only the one new thing. 

Nothing is perfect and equipment owners, equipment manufacturers, and professional reviewers all display forms of cognitive bias when writing about products.  None are absolutely objective and none will exactly mirror the reader's own sonic preferences.  WRT equipment owners posting in audio forums, it is not unusual to observe choice-supportive bias and confirmation bias as they promote their own equipment choices.  For me, the expectation bar is to learn a few things and be entertained but certainly not to make purchase decisions on the basis of one or even two reviews. 
With professional reviews, I appreciate well-done pictures and right now nobody tops 6moons and the pictures they post of the insides of the gear they review.  I have always been skeptical of gear that "can't be opened or you void the warranty."  Would you buy a car without looking under the hood?  I also appreciate reviewers who compare the product being reviewed with  similar products (i.e., differences in sonics, operational features, and construction).   Again, Srajan at 6moons typically does a good job of this.
Regarding reviews here on Audiogon, as someone already pointed out there is a place here for reviews so a good start might be for the folks here to simply write more reviews of their gear and post pictures on their system page.

https://forum.audiogon.com/topics/member-reviews