A $2500 a processor, and a $3000 av receiver?
I'm sure they are great - but alcoholics has always seemed to be more geared to the budget oriented audio guy. I'm going to guess those recommendation are going to be useful to maybe 1% of your audience.
Just judging by participants in the AH forums, it's a broad-based mix. I suppose you could say that 99% of the audience is very budget-oriented about cables, but for electronics and speakers my impression is that it's all over the map.
Clearly you and I have different expectations about PotY winners, but I expect the winners to generally be aspirational. Aspirational products are usually the ones that break new ground in capabilities, technologies, or build quality. And they're also more fun to read about. Look at the automotive world, for example. A review of the Subaru Outback is useful to many people, but what's the first thing everyone reads? The review of the latest sports car, that only 0.01% actually buy, as measured by sales volume. For a PotY winner, I don't want to know about the best $495 pre-pro, I want to know about a stand-out pre-pro. (I probably own the best $495 pre-pro on the market, and I'd much rather read about what's better.)
Every time Gene publishes a review of an expensive product there are always a few wondering in posts about how close something half the price comes to it in measured performance. Personally, I think that attitude misses the point entirely.
