Stereophile's 2021 products of the year

I don't put too much faith in them either. One of the first crazy expensive systems I ever heard belonged to this guy who was into "deals". His whole system was a Who's Who of Stereophile Class A picks. All bought used on the basis of being "the best". 

Have you ever seen one of those gags where they swap things around and you're expecting one thing and shocked to get something completely different? I gave him my CD and when the music started I whipped around and hit eject fully expecting to find he had swapped or something. But no, it was my CD.   

All these Stereophile Class A Components combined for the worst sound ever. Horrible, could hardly stand it. No exaggeration.   

Few weeks later we had a party, everyone in my listening room just playing tunes. Couple hours into it this guy's wife sneaks up to me, looks around to make sure no one will hear, and eyes wide in wonder whispers to me, "I could listen to this all night!!!" This was before the hopelessness of digital had become clear to me. We were probably playing a lot of CDs. So it wasn't that. It was the awfulness of the combination of all those Class A Components. 

There are probably some good ones on the list. But I suspect it is more about bragging rights than anything.

@jjss49 i'm relatively new to this hobby, <2 yrs.  where does one find the information you describe about the policies of the different publications?  

@jjss49 Very well said!

I would also add that the new crop of youtube reviewers are following in the same footsteps. Almost all of them start with good intentions and fair and balanced reviews. Before long, they realize that this could be a lucrative business and at that point it’s pretty much downhill from there. For instance, watch some of the older videos from the likes of Zero Fidelity, Thomas and Stereo, NBT Studio, John Darko, Tarun the Brit Audiophile, etc. and compare them to what they’re publishing nowadays. You will see an incremental improvement in production values but the opposite when it comes to providing unbiased opinions.

I think the only place to get information that is not influenced by ulterior motives are forums like this one, barring a few dealers and well-known shills here and there.

"...I am not saying Schiit is the best best all end all of audio but they allows for average people to dip a toe in the water of high end audio..."

The best part of this hobby is finding gear that is really good but also affordable but don't discount the heavy hitters there is another layer above mid-range gear.

I enjoy Stereophile, TAS and HiFi News and Record Review. I do not find Harley, Valin, Fremer, Reichert, Kessler or other prominent reviewers in any way dishonest. I do not believe that the magazines provide great reviews for ad money (although I know of one reviewer who will remain nameless  and is no longer in the business who would provide a great review, unbeknownst to the higher ups at the magazine, in exchange for keeping the item reviewed at no cost to him--which he would later sell). 
 It is obvious that a brand with consistently great reviews will advertise in the magazine as their advertisements will reach their target audience and influence purchasing decisions. 
One has to know the type of sound that each reviewer prefers and judge their reviews accordingly. Furthermore, a reviewer will rarely report that a component sounds terrible, but you can usually learn the character, strengths and weaknesses of each item reviewed even if the weaknesses are not set forth in bright lights. I've come to appreciate Fremer the most as he is not afraid to be more direct than most about the character of the sound of an item and precisely what he liked and disliked about it.