Hi,
Stereophile has always tried to maintain independence from advertisers. So I generally respect their opinion. But there are inherent limitations, which are not their fault. Stereophile can't review everything that's out there. By the time a review does hit newsstands, that model will probably be discontinued and replaced. Just because a product is not a Stereophile class A does not mean that it's not great. Take the never been reviewed ATC SCM-150 ASL Pro speakers for instance. These pro speakers used in Sony and Warner recording studios would blow away the Meridian DSP8000, JMlab Grande Utopia, Dynaudio Evidence Master, Wilson Audio Specialties MAXX, etc and for less money. On the other side of the coin, some class A components such as CD players and DACs are both underperforming and outrageously overpriced. Do a search on the forum for Vadim's post on Mark Levison.
What I would like to see from Stereophile is double blind testing of class A components. If they are really that great, it should be obvious in a double blind test. But most (except maybe the speakers) probably aren't. So that begs the question of whether these class A components are worth it?
Ben