The problem is the phenomenon...it's like being a critic for fine art or haute couture. I mean how do you PREDICT which component will sound good for a particular listener-room-RestOfSystem combination. You cannot!

So, as long as one realizes that haute audio reviews are merely entertaining, and catering to a different audience perhaps than one who is interested in good music, one is OK. One merely has to look at ads in stereophile, or talk to the haute audio manufacturers, to realize that they share many traits common with makers of haute couture:
a) an emphasis on presentation and looks that often belie the content ($50 drivers in $9950 cabinets anyone?)
b) a knack for taking relatively simple technology and mumbo jumboing it to impress the credulous well heeled buyer
c) a prima donna attitude completely at odds with the sheer simplicity of the product (compare the technology in a cheap computer with an audio component).

Hence, IMHO, there are two worlds: (i) the world of people who want to listen to music and want the highest fidelity, and (ii) the world of haute audio (whose inhabitants are often colloquially called audiophiles).

Critics in the world of haute audio serve a valuable function when they connect the well heeled bourgeouis client with the haute audio manufacturer. The problems only occur when people in world (i) expect the publications (almost all of which are in world (ii) ) to cater to THEM. As long as one understands that reviews in haute audio publications (like stereophile as only ONE example) serve a particular purpose, and are in no sense PREDICTIVE of how a system will really be perceived by one listener in one room, one is OK.

So, rather than bash the poor haute audio critic, let us accept their function for what it is, and choose to subscribe or unsubscribe to their publications, as we wish!

thanx for reading!
-akhilesh