Reviews of $10k plus ics, speaker wires, and pcs

I don't mind reviews of extremely expensive cables, gear or speakers, especially if I learn something new about design or materials. What I don't like are reviews that are all hype and don't provide any substance about the design, materials or actual (not pseudo) science behind the product. There is a well known and commercially successful brand of cables with many professional reviews where none of the reviews provide even basic construction details such as the speaker cable wire gauge. There is a new Class D amplifier manufacturer with supposedly great sounding products that will not post or allow pictures of the insides of their amps. Say what you will about a 6Moons audio review but at least they go over the construction of the reviewed item, show detailed pictures of the insides and compare directly with other similar products they have heard. None of us would buy a car without looking under the hood and comparing specifications and construction details so why do "audiophiles" pay as much as a car for cables or gear without the benefit of detailed design/construction information for comparison?

Mitch2, let me take another counter example to your car example. How much information do you have for buying one computer versus another? Yes you get amount of memory, processor speed, size, weight, etc. Do you seek interior pictures or timing of various tasks before buying?

I like 6Moons reviews also, but many audio manufactures will not allow such reviews. I much prefer to discuss the at least plausible explanation of how product X differs. But there are many things that manufacturers consider proprietary information. Would that you deny such manufacturers no reviews or just tell readers to hear this for yourself? In reality advising readers to seek to hear this piece is the only warrented advice, even though few of us can get such an audition. Wouldn't it be great were audio magazines be listening sessions where everyone heard the same thing rather than verbal reviews?

How much information do you have for buying one computer versus another?

Quite a bit actually. My latest computer purchase was a mac mini to use as a music server, which I compared to many other options like CAPS servers and other small non-laptop machines. At OWC online you can watch a video of them taking apart an entire mac mini to install new memory, drives, etc. I ended up having Mojo remove the SMPS and install filters plus an outboard linear power supply that I reviewed a picture of on-line before choosing Mojo to do the work.

Yes you get amount of memory, processor speed, size, weight, etc. Do you seek interior pictures or timing of various tasks before buying?

Actually, yes again, except maybe for inexpensive laptops or machines from "known" suppliers but even then the components they use are almost always listed so you can look them up.

There are ways to hide proprietary circuits from a casual photograph but IME the absence of transparency often hides BS, especially when it is accompanied by overly enthusiastic rhetoric. Maybe I have engineer's disease but I want to know how and why things work.

Mapman wrote,

"Tbg,

You must have a lot of money invested in your system and I suspect it must sound quite good accordingly. Why not post the fruits of your work (ie your system or systems) here on A'gon.

Do you actually buy the products you support? Or are you a reviewer or dealer with special privileges?"

Pretty suspicious sounding. A little snarky, actually, if I can be so bold.

The top 1%
I know this thread has moved on, and this might not be the best timing. But knowledge is golden.
So the top 1%, is not what one thinks it is:

1. A family enters the top 1% or so today with somewhere around $300k to $400k in pre-tax annual income and over $1.2M in net worth. Compared to the average American family with a pre-tax income in the mid-$50k range and net worth around $120k, this probably seems like a lot of money. But, there are big differences even within that top 1%, with the wealth distribution highly skewed towards the top 0.1%.
-The net worth for those in the lower half of the top 1% is usually achieved after decades of education, hard work, saving and investing as a professional or small business person.
-They pay the highest taxes. While an after-tax income of $175k to $250k and net worth in the $1.2M to $1.8M range may seem like a lot of money to most Americans, it doesn't really buy freedom from financial worry or access to the true corridors of power and money.
-In many areas in California or the East Coast, this positions one squarely in the hard working upper-middle class, and strict budgeting will be essential. An income of $190k post tax or $15.8k per month will certainly buy a nice lifestyle but is far from rich.

2. One enters the top 0.5% with about $1.8M.

3. Top 0.25% with $3.1M.

4. Top 0.10% with $5.5M.

5. Top 0.01% with $24.4M.

So....