These are all very valid points. Unless a review from an "unknown" goes into great detail as to other components that have been tried, how the system is configured, if other components or cables were changed to obtain best performance with that specific piece of gear, etc... one should simply consider a "review" a public posting of that persons opinion. The advantage that a well known reviewer has is that they have a "track record" of what they like / don't like. From their past writings, one should be able to decipher whether or not they have similar tastes and preferences and decide whether or not they would agree with the reviewers comments of a product on a regular basis.
If you do find yourself liking similar sounds and products, all the better for you. That reviewer can make your life a little easier by letting him do some of the detective work for you. If you find yourself disagreeing with said reviewer over a course of time, you can use reverse psychology i.e. they did not a specific piece of gear, so you might like it : ) Like anything else, you have to sort through the personal preferences and bias and try to read between the lines.
Some reviewers ( professional and / or amateur ) are quite vocal about what their likes / dislikes are and that is a good thing. I would rather have someone tell me "straight up" that they think something rocks or is junk. Knowing more about their background and how they go about things would tell me how much value i should place in their opinion. None the less, someone that is adamant about a product ( good or bad ) probably has their reasons for coming to the conclusions that they have.
As a case in point, here's a quote from Richard Hardesty, formerly of WideScreen Review and now of "The Audio Perfectionist". He is a reviewer that basically tells you what he likes and why. He will also tell you what he doesn't like and why. If you don't agree with him, that is your prerogative. At least he is honest and tells you what to expect out of his reviews up front.
"These are just my opinions. You may have different tastes in music. You may have different tastes in film. You may have different tastes in a lot of things.. and that includes ( insert product type here ).
You might use my reviews as an aid to help establish your own merit system. Listen for the characteristics that i describe and see if you can hear these things, and then decide just how important each of these sonic properties are to YOUR enjoyment. Modify some of my biases to fit your personality and you'll get what YOU want, not just what sounds good to me."
I think that about sums it up. Most reviews and comments are worth what you pay for them, mine included. If you are interested in reading more of what Hardesty has to say, i'm including a link to his website. Try checking out his free downloadable sample issues AND the "watchdog" series. Keep in mind that you MUST have the latest version of Adobe Acrobat for these files to read properly. I found this out the hard way after pulling my hair out. Sean
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http://www.audioperfectionist.com
