What's the point of reviewing?

I must say that the Linton is so overrated. 

@voodoolounge

I would never buy a component based solely upon a review but that doesn’t, in my mind, render them useless. When contemplating an upgrade, my approach is to gather as many impressions/opinions as I can about products I might consider. This includes reviews as well as comments posted on this forum and others and in conjunction with specs, helps me narrow the field. Once I have a short list of candidates, I research which can be auditioned at home, which further reduces the number of contenders. While I don’t assert this is the only way to go, it’s worked for me, so far. By contrast, auditioning gear in show-rooms has not. Each to his/her own. Discover what works for you.

Audio reviews are like wine reviews. I like to hear what experienced and knowledgeable reviewers have to say about gear (and wine). I’ll never sit in front of some of the high end gear nor drink a bottle of Petrus, but I like to read about it.  I’ve run across new music reading reviews and find how the reviewer describes aspects of the music produced. Helps me when I’m listening to my rig. 
 

Reviews have influenced some of my buying decisions; most notably my move into electrostatic speakers. When I wanted to try some new speakers, I remembered many times that reviewers compared a speaker midrange to Quads; or they’d remind the reviewer of the first time they heard Quads, etc. With nothing more than that, I found some ESL 63s here on AGon for a reasonable price. Never looked back. 
 

Because I think engineering matters, I like reviews that provide measurements and subjective commentary. But the numbers aren’t the whole story. As @mahgister points out, the story is told in how gear fits together into a system and into your acoustic environment. 

After enough time (years in my case), I found a few reviewers who have reviewed gear I've heard or owned, own, or thinking about owning. Their reviews jive very well with my own impressions of said gear. I came to understand what Kal Rubinson means when he says "The purity of the voices was never
corrupted by the need to simultaneously
invest huge acoustical power in reproducing
the orchestra and brass bands." Steve Guttenberg's take on the Cambridge Audio Topaz AM5 paralleled mine. 

 Just two examples, but if I'm in the market for something, I can trust that those reviews, if available, will give me a good idea what I would experience with the item in question. There is so much gear out there now, and so much of it good gear, that I would be lost without some point of reference.