I'm happy to have read a Stereophile review of a product that the reviewer didn't like. I don't know if my whining had anything to do with it or if it's just a co-incidence, but I'm really happy about it. I really think that publishing negative reviews establishes reviewer's credibility.

BTW, I think it's ok to say that a product just plain sucks without any qualifiers such as "some may like it" or "this isn't my cup of tea, but others may feel differently" or any other such cushioning statement. If it sucks, it sucks. Say so.

On a related note, I'm surprised that amplifier noise doesn't automatically disqualify an amplifier from hi-fi status. Doesn't that defeat the whole point of high fidelity? If there is noise, there can be no high fidelity. Everyone spends so much time tweaking by getting the right cables, placing the speakers just so, room treatments, stands, lead shot, spikes, feet, etc, etc, yet it seems to me that none of that matters in the slightest if there's hum or noise coming out of the speakers. Why is there tolerance for noisy amps?