Best reviewers


Who are in your opinion the best reviewers out there ? Whether it be from stereophile, TAS or an audio forum, you surely have a few reviewers that you trust and respect. I nominate Robert E. Greene from The Absolute Sound as the best reviewer. He understands live music, knows how to describe what he hears, and appears to be impartial. Your choice ?
joe_coherent
Wow, did this get weird--I don't even know where to begin, so I'll go back to the beginning. Have always like Robert Harley because he is concise and logical, have come to like Michael Fremer, because he is right (mostly) about the virtues of vinyl, and can't stomach another Johnathan Scull with his endless 'cult of personality' prattle about J-10, K-10 and the Ribbon Chair. I read his reviews ONLY to see if he can somehow restrain himself from mentioning this precious ass cradle. Hasn't happened yet!
I am also revolted by J10's self-centeredness. Actually a lot of bloated-egophile reviewers regularly post on AudioAsylum, where you can verify what is being said here. Some equally egotistic equipment manufacturers and designers do to. And if I may, I will add to the list of reviewers I do not admire Mr Tom Gillet, a.k.a. Sam Tellig. His reviews usually read like "Special Advertising Sections". They are either intentionally skewed or unintentionally unconvincing.
I respect Holt and Pearson the most. Holt is the best, period! He is humble, honest, and straightforward. He has good listening skills, good music taste with good insight and perspective from an average audiophile's point of view. My next favorite is HP and not for the same reason I like Holt. Harry is Harry and that's ok. He has a point of view that is very consistent and has really contributed to our audiophile language in being able to describe what he is hearing. I give him credit also for keeping S.O.T.A. system over a period of time. He compares equipment against his reference so therefore you know where Harry's listening reference is. Many other reviewers don't own complete systems and just rotate equipment under review and operate from memory on past components. Reviewers I always try to read first are Jonaton Valin (good taste and always music tips), Mike Fremer (analog city), Anthony Cordesman (objective with solid comparisons), Sam Telieg (funny, but I am sure misleads first time buyers with each article praising a new piece of equipment). There is wider group of reviewers that Wayne Donnelly (fair), Wayne Garcia (value point/fair) Ken Kessler (he tries) that are examples that most of our reviewers are trying to communicate some information to us that will be useful. So by knowing your own musicall preferences you can get a lot of useful information in Audiophile Magazines. Its just another source of opinions use it to what extent you want to, but always make your own choices. There are articles/writers that I find are a wasted of time. There's a category of reviewers that constantly praise the latest edition from the same manufactures regardless of component's true sonic characteristics. Jonaton Skull's gives me that uneasy feeling most of the time. There's a couple I dislike period. Michael Gindi's PHD (Ultimate Sound), Mike Tres review's (Listner) are full on delusions of grandeur and the absolute worst ration of bullshit to useful information written.