What reviews do you trust if any?

Douglas shroeder of Dagogo.com. I bought a used pair of King sound speakers from him from his review online . Then months later i bought the Eastern Electric minimax plus dac he uses and reviewed on Dagogo . So far two for two . maybe some day i will try the Wells amp he just reviewed and bought .I did drive six hours from the reviews i read then got to hear before buying though .

With all the reviews and reviewers out there saying positive things about the latest 'gee whiz' audio item, do you find any of them to be reliable?

No.

How many grains of salt do you need to take with the reviews?

A ton of grains of salt.

+1 to what Abucktwoeighty said. Between this forum and Audio Asylum, I get all the information I need to take a risk and try something out. Though I have been disappointed, I still have a much better batting average with these forums than with professional reviews. After a while, you do learn what members have similar tastes to your own.

I tend to trust people until I know them better. The same goes for reviewers. What's written doesn't necessarily translate to what's heard, but it's fun to read up and get to know someones tastes and finalize the reality of what's heard to what's written. Then I can get to trust.

I do my best to stay away from salt.

All the best,
Nonoise

Audio reviewers are entertainers, not reporters, and in many cases are loaded down with conflicts of interest that would even embarrass a politican (I once read a review where the reviewer started by raving about the magnificently expensive steak dinner the manufacturer's rep had bought him when dropping off the equipment). So I don't trust them at all, but I do read and enjoy them. And I do believe you can learn important things about objective issues (like price, specs and features) from reviews. But I have never made a purchase based on a reviewer's opinion of sound or performance, and never will.

None to the point where I would buy the gear just because the reviewer liked it, especially when I see how many reviewers are playing the test piece in a system with inappropriate to suboptimal partnering equipment. Things I like are;
1. reading about new gear,
2. the old HiFi+ especially for the pictures,
3. JA's measurements of new gear,
4. reviews that go into detail about the piece itself, such as how it is constructed, parts used, and design information, all without undue hype,
5. the many pictures included with 6-Moons reviews, especially those of the insides of the gear.

I also agree there are folks here on Audiogon that seem to have more experience and better instincts than many reviewers. At least Audiogon members mostly try and post about gear that is a good match for their listening preferences and that plays well with their other equipment.