Some famous reviewers have atrocious listening rooms!

I would not want to review equipment.  It would take the enjoyment of the music away for me.  I would not be able to separate the work side from the relaxing pleasure side.  Listening would become work all the time for me.  I grew up in the 1960s watching TV.  So for me any class or seminar I had to watch on a TV screen felt like entertainment for me.  If the speaker is in front of me in person it feels like work, but if they are on a TV screen it feels like entertainment.  

It was the same years ago when playing golf with the customer.  I could not relax and enjoy the game.  I felt I had to be attentive and aware of everything and anything I said and did.

When I get into the stereo upgrade mode it is all about listening and discerning differences.  The pleasure of just hearing the music becomes secondary.  Fortunately, once I am satisfied with the sound I can get out of upgrade mode and go back to enjoying the music.  I’m the last person that could sit there and take notes while listening to music.

Bingo!  Agree completely.  Related to that, it is the reviewer who is able to write about the way that the gear impacts the music in the sound that are best. 

@prof maybe my irony didn't come off so well. The OP was making the point that someone whose listening room is a mess or absolute disaster clearly can't be relied upon to subjectively review equipment or music, so I was making the contrarian point that someone whose listening room looks like like nearly all the "audiophile" rooms I see clearly can't be relied upon either because their listening setup and equipment doesn't reflect real-world conditions. 

As you rightly point out, people create the room they want. Some "test" equipment by listening to "audiophile" tracks and some people listen to music on the best setup they can afford.  

I'm sure if some people saw my listening room they'd be aghast.. And while it's not Michael Fremer-boarding-on-horder messy, it's also not the audiophile ideal.

Over a decade ago it was not uncommon for editors to send true (dif) balanced components to reviewers whose systems were not. And in their write ups/reviews they would say they could hear no difference, proving both editors and reviewers weren't that bright. I would call them out on it to no avail. After way too many of such examples of stupidity I gave up

@larsman +1

"I'd rather hear from a reviewer who might have a 'real world' listening space like most viewers would. A review from an acoustically perfect space would give me no information at all about what I might expect in my own place. "