"...and I don't take any advertiser money..."

I am not referring to industry accommodation. This program has been available, in most instances, to me for over the last 20 years. I was referring to the literal definition as cash for a positive review.  

If you participate on a forum, would do well to examine your own motives around recommendation and why you like certain bits… Your payday might just be…influence… introspection is rare….

Audiophile know thyself 

Enjoy the music

Also dont forget the influence that decades long relationships have in this game. 

Not all “experts” are created equal. Also, there seems to be 3 reasons against negative professional reviews:
1) P reviewers choose interesting components for their audience, usually meaning newer designs with good reputations - so expect reliability and performance to be sorted out. They do not pick randomly, which would lead to significantly more negative reviews.
2) P reviewers seem to avoid publishing negative reviews because in our small niche high-end audio market, such a review can have major negative financial effect on the manufacturer. Some consumers may feel like it’s bias not to objectify report the good and the bad.
3) If a P reviewer reports negatively, future manufactures may avoid using them for fear of a negative review.

As a consumer, I’d like honesty the good and bad to help my purchase decision. But to not perspectively seriously hurt a manufacturer, I think it best not to publish a very detrimental review to give the manufacturer a chance to correct the issues

@audition__audio:  I have NEVER accepted cash or any kind of direct payment from a manufacturer or distributor and neither have my colleagues - we'd be fired unceremoniously by our publisher if we did. I once was asked how much it would cost for a review; I told the person we don't work that way and explained our system. Be cynical all you want but I can review audio gear and still look at myself in the mirror each day without shame.

@tomic_601: I suppose you can say I try to influence purchases, but I look at it as attempting to steer audio aficionados to equipment that is good value, offers great sound and is well built. If I hadn't been a real fan of good audio for as long as I have (let's just say a long time), I wouldn't do what I do. 

As I've said before, I can't speak for any other reviewer. What they do is beyond my knowledge. I only know the criteria to which I adhere, and I've tried to lay those out in these posts. I'm just trying to clear up misinformation and, I hope, some of the incredible cynicism about reviews and reviewers I see on this forum