adamdea
You are not a sound quality evaluation device
So (to adapt the famous saying about newspaper editors) the role of the hifi mag editor is to publish as many nice things about his advertisers as his readership will allow.Yes. you did read that wrongly.
We need small new companies coming to the market. They frequently cannot afford to advertise. If there are not enough advertisers in the magazine, the magazine dies. The advertisers effectively act as patrons, but in the process require review space in return. We also have to pay tribute (more or less) to those brands that are sanctified by the Audiophile Gods, but don't advertise (Linn and Rega for example) and what's currently en vogue with our international enthusiasts. What's left after that goes to discovery brands.