Lets face it, a review article is going to net the reviewer maybe something in the $2000 neighborhood. Perhaps more for a regular senior contributor. I doubt that many a reviewer can subsist on those payouts, let alone amass an expensive state of the art system without some serious accommodation pricing and long term loans.
That being said, they do get to hear a lot of stuff and gain experience over time and pick and choose what they want to purchase for themselves. Yeah, a "neutral" system might be better for discerning differences and evaluating components, but it still depends on their familiarity with some kind of a reference (e.g. their own compilation of components). After all, that what each of us does when we hear another audiophile quality system ... we compare it to what we know and what we like.
However, reviewers will necessarily still try to be upbeat. How many reviews will they get if they trash things big time? So as readers, we have to read between the lines a bit. Somewhat forward sounding means it will etch your ears. Somewhat overfull bass means it sounds tubby and bloated and one note boomy. etc, you get the picture.
That being said, they do get to hear a lot of stuff and gain experience over time and pick and choose what they want to purchase for themselves. Yeah, a "neutral" system might be better for discerning differences and evaluating components, but it still depends on their familiarity with some kind of a reference (e.g. their own compilation of components). After all, that what each of us does when we hear another audiophile quality system ... we compare it to what we know and what we like.
However, reviewers will necessarily still try to be upbeat. How many reviews will they get if they trash things big time? So as readers, we have to read between the lines a bit. Somewhat forward sounding means it will etch your ears. Somewhat overfull bass means it sounds tubby and bloated and one note boomy. etc, you get the picture.