I don't implicitly trust any single review, and I absolutely don't trust an opinion simply because I read it on Head-Fi : they are *all* subjective opinions. What I do look for is a consensus on the characteristics of a given piece of kit - a good example would be the various reviews of the HiFiMan HE5LE. When I can get a consensus, then I can decide for myself, regardless of how enthusiastic (or otherwise) individual reviewers may be about a given component.
That said, I do have a higher opinion of certain reviewers at Stereophile, The Absolute Sound and Hi-Fi Choice than I do for most of the stuff written by What Hi-Fi. Plenty here will bag the aforementioned mags and people like Wes Phillips, but Wes championed headphones long before the 'renaissance' of the last 3 or so years, and he has heard more kit than I ever will. As others have pointed out, many of the magazines have commercial relationships with people who depend on good reviews to promote their product, so its important to find reviews where they list 'cons' alongside the 'pros'. I always take the time to read John Atkinson's summary re measurements on kit reviewed by Stereophile, but only to ensure that it gels with the subjective impressions of the reviewer. Even then, its only a single data point on a 'grid' that I try to create, and that's unlikely to happen within the first month of a product's release.
There is a rant out there somewhere from an unhappy camper who left Head-Fi partly because he became disenchanted with the standard of many reviews (no, its not Voldemort ...). Some of his criticisms reeked of elitism, but I think its a good summary of the view many outside of Head-Fi have of the forums:
- reviews that read more like a sales pitch than anything resembling objectivity (I agree)
- reviews from folk who dont own any high-end gear and therefore have no basis for comparison (he didn't comprehend that 'high-end' starts at 50K in some circles, not 3k.....)
- review music that belongs on Top 40 radio, not in a serious analysis of kit (yep, he was a classical snob)
I dont know anyone who is totally immune to purchase justification, new toy joy and some initial placebo, but there is a difference between a 'review' and brief listening impressions - perhaps we could have kept our friend happy with more the latter and less of the former. I'll take either over the situation many of us are often faced with - googling for reviews on new kit and finding nothing beyond rehashed marketing crap on a vendor's site. Some of the customer reviews on Amazon can actually give you a better picture of the ownership experience than the usual 'OMG - this is the best eva !' impressions that tend to find their way onto Head-Fi within days of a product going on sale. HiFiMan, Digizoid and others know how quickly the tide can turn here when an FOTM has issues that dont show up until a large batch has shipped.