In reading reviews, I'm always more interested in process than conclusions since so much (aside from any obvious bias on the part of the reviewer) is system dependent. I also start with the assumption that a reviewer is operating in good faith, but perhaps that's naive. I don't think I ever purchased any serious component based on a review, although reviews (as well as user comments on web sites) will often lead me to try something in my system. My biggest issue with HP (and I both respect and admire him for what he has done, having read him from the very beginning) is that even when he was at the top of his game, and The Absolute Sound was thriving (as much as it could be, back in the day), he always wrote these tentative, preliminary reviews, with promises of follow-up, in-depth reviews that never seemed to happen. C'est la vie.
I bought my first piece of ARC gear in the early 70's and it was demonstrably more musical than anything at the time (particularly the preamp, by comparison to everything else I heard then in comparison). I owned ARC stuff of different eras for decades. I never gave any attention to the paid advertising. As a contrarian, the slicker the ad, the more put off I tend to be about the product. Marketing these days takes many forms. To me, the best form of marketing is getting the product into qualified buyer's rooms for home trial. But, the gear has to live up to its promise.
