I know a number of people who're much better off according to their own admission dropping a number of products that were openly bashed here. Cat litter boxes, power cords and other AC messing boxes topping the list
! They're not only better off financially they're also happy to finally be in a place where they don't think about the next change but instead enjoying music and their lives. That would have never happened if we all cowered away from controversy.
david
I wonder partly if some of it was social pressure. Not all changes are "full" changes. But overall it's best to follow what you listen to, not what fulfills criteria. It's not hard to fall for the search of wanting something someone else describes. In fact I think that a lot of positive & negative reviews give you the impression there are things you should or should not experience but are questionable, require sacrifices in other attributes, and in general may do nothing at all for actual listening pleasure. So ironically sometimes a negative review sounds positive when you make changes in what you're listening for... and vice versa possibly, too. Which speaks to why descriptive is better than determinative. Also disclosure of associated gear means a lot, too. What's truly hard is for newbies to navigate it all without the experience to read between lines or know associated gear, or even a reviewers taste.
I think etiquette is a curse, too. For example I don't see the point in being overly strict and scoffing at people who don't want to do rooms like others, or chair style, etc etc. Laughing if a stereo doesn't have a soundstage that's big and 3D as a write off would be another, while ignoring everything else - stuff like that. A lot of that etiquette and write-off type stuff does appear to be
strong in reviews. There's a lot to get caught up in that may not lead to enjoyment at all.
P.S. I chuckle a little about the AC messing boxes. While I think almost all of them are horrible, it's also ironic that Lamm has a little one in every device.