What's the point of reviewing?

Good question and IMHO not much other than entertainment. It’s more like advertising under the guise of "information". They just confuse the issue with insecurities and doubt.

Reviews can be good to:

1) Let you know a product is out there.

2) Basic specs like dimensions, power consumption, and frequency range.

As for sound quality, if you listen to sound with your ears, not your eyes (what you read) or your mind (your imagination), there is not much point to them. Even if we can all agree Benchmark DAC’s are "analytical", what does that mean to YOU and will YOU like it? You have to hear it for yourself.

There are just too many variables. Have you ever gone for a demo at a dealer of hi-fi show and system sounds great. Then you put in your own music and the sound falls apart? Why is that? Can it be fixed by tweaking? I’ve heard systems go from "mid-fi" to "hi-fi" just by changing one component, speaker placement, the room, or the song.

One guy who worked at a stereo store said when they had merchandise they wanted to move, they set it up really good in a conspicuous place in the store.

Sure, some dealers allow home auditions but unless you have a few components to compare to, does not help that much IMHO. Plus is not easy to arrange to get a bunch of components into your house then send back.

One review means NOTHING ...Nevermind the reviewer...

Reviews are only meaningful in their statistical numbers...

Then you compare them for ALL acoustics factors...

You decode each word associated with each factors...

Then the most important part is to read what is missing, what is not there...

The text of a review say half the story, the other half is missing or between the lines...

I applied this method for all my purchase...

I made few errors when i underestimated my own ignorance and when i fail to spot  my unidentified needs,,,Not because of the reviews analysis ...

Then BEFORE reading reviews identify your real needs...

If you read reviews without precise needs you will be tempted to upgrade foolishly most of the times...

In one word : reviewers dont matter, only the sheer numbers of reviews for a product to be ANALYSED...This method for sure is valid for well known products not obscure one...

Then there is no need even to listen to it before buying it ... Anyway i cannot and could not listen before buying...This is the reason i developed this simple but efficient method...But my field work was reading analysis... 😊

The point is well taken -- this is an extraordinarily hard thing to compare for physical reasons above and beyond the interpretive and physiological differences btw people. But, of course, conditions never need to be "identical" to be not mooted.

When reviewers are articulate, they at least give a hint about what they like and what they’re hearing. That hint serves as a clue for people who find that their tastes might align.

Cf. Why read movie reviews or restaurant reviews? Same reason -- bc we find others there who seem like us AND they describe their listening conditions and tastes to help us see if it’s close enough to even take a hint.

This has nothing to do with statistics. It's about finding people who speak our language. Whose words are music to our ears.

@mahgister is right. There is strength in numbers. Many people drawing similar conclusions and representing a decent random sample is the secret sauce. Or even just several knowledgeable sources might do it.  
 

Every piece of equipment I have bought I have auditioned in my listening space. Plenty of dealers do this. The last piece I bought was a $26,000.00 DAC. Auditioned in my system for 3 weeks.