http://www.high-endaudio.com/
A website that includes a list of the best hi-fi components in the world [in the view of the site's author -- Arthur Salvatore] and an interesting discussion of hi-fi reviewers ...
The site has opinions !!
The following quote will give an idea of its style ...
".....
THE HALCRO dm58 AMPLIFIERS-ANOTHER FAILURE OF INTEGRITY
It was impossible to miss. It dominated the front cover of the October 2002 Stereophile; a huge photo of the Halcro dm58, and in extra-large bold lettering, the unqualified declaration:
"The Best Amplifier Ever!"
That's about as definitive a statement as it gets in audio, but editor John Atkinson had a small problem; there were 15* "Class A" solid-state amplifiers already in Stereophile's April 2002 Recommended Components List (RCL). So Atkinson now had to decide which of those 15 amps, if not all of them, would have to be demoted to "Class B", or removed entirely from the RCL. After all, the October 2002 cover clearly stated that the Halcro was now superior to all the previous amplifiers that were "the best".
(*This doesn't even count the other 30+ "Class A" amplifiers that were in the other artificial categories; "Tubes" and "Integrated".)
The big question; how would John Atkinson, the final arbiter of what-went-where in the RCL, handle this situation? A quick look at the April 2003 RCL provides the answer. So what do we find there, the Halcro all by itself, the only result which is consistent with the cover? Not quite...
There were now 17 solid-state amplifiers in "Class A". Yes, there's actually 2 more than before! Of "the original 15" amps, the only amplifiers that were removed were those either...
A. "discontinued" or
B. "not heard for a long time".
The Bottom Line-
Not even 1 of the 15 amplifiers was REMOVED because its sonics were INFERIOR to the Halcro!
The Inescapable Conclusion- Either...
A. The Halcro "the best amplifier ever" cover was a total fraud, or
B. Their "Recommended Components List" is a total fraud.
(Of course, BOTH of them can be "total frauds".)
...."
ends==