Contrary to what seems to be approaching a general consensus, I have grown to have more respect for Stereophile's reviewers over the years. I can't think of a single component that I have run through my system (that was also reviewed in Stereophile) that didn't sound like the reviewer described. That isn't to say that I haven't disliked a component, I have...many, but I've never walked away saying to myself, "That didn't sound anything like so and so said it did." Other than that, I expect good writing and they do have the best writers by a wide margin.