Latest Absolute Sound

 I read it mostly for the music reviews.  The rest is just entertainment.

I think there's very little new in circuit design, other than class D, and if you throw $1000 in parts at a good design, you've thrown in the kitchen sink, and you get a superb amp.  The rest goes to manufacturing, packaging, marketing, retail margins, and being able to pay the employees (and employees can be horrendously expensive, especially if funded from low volume runs).

If you don't like what they publish then the best way to satisfy your complaint is to cancel your subscription. Your complaining about what they review, how they review, etc. isn't going tpo change anything about the composition of the AS or for that matter, Stereophile; sure you've seen periodic letters to the Editor bemoaning the same thing. Hasn't moved them one bit.

I was in Great Neck, NY the other week and they have a Aston-Martin and Massarati dealers out there.  There are plenty of people with money.