What reviews do you trust if any?

I ony trust reviewers who make reference to well accepted equipment that is already in the market. In that way, if I also have experience with the same equipment, I will often find out if they and I have been hearing the same things, have the same tastes, either good or bad.

Otherwise, IMO, the subjective part of the review is nearly useless.

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.
Mitch2

Those are on my list also, especially love the pics on 6Moons. Another important piece of information is how the unit operated. For example, was the amp noisy, or did it have a finicky volume control.
I have made purchases based on reviews or get a high rating in Stereopile's recommended listing and been sorely disappointed. Have also been happy with gear purchased that way.

There will always be the 'one man's poison is another man's candy' element to subjective evaluation. The key is to hone in on the formal aspects of any review and decide if such features and benefits resonate with what you want to know about a given component. And, as I have said too many times in the past to remember the count, a component sounds the way it sounds in the context of a system, not in isolation. So the system must also and always be part of the 'poison' or 'candy' part of the perspective. I tend to focus on those aspects of a review that describe what it is like to actually listen to music in that context. Without that from an exampe point of view, it is almost impossible to understand what, 'sounds great' or 'superb slam' really mean.

I look for a consensus of opinions. If a component has several glowing reviews, I take it as a good sign

I also like the 6 Moons review approach.Good pictures,clear detail concerning,design,built quality and the designer`s objectives. They consistently make comparisons to competitor components and are willing to criticize when needed.

I like Jack Roberts at Dagogo.He places priority on musical values and the emotional- natural presentation of components.
Regards,