I find CNET reviews of displays to be pretty tough. A particular reviewer is quite demanding, and is a real stickler for color accuracy in particular. This means that even Pioneer plasmas and JVC projectors don't always get the highest marks.
OTOH, for audio, ehhhh. I think the main issue is that they simply get very little stuff that is *nice* to test out. Sure, they might get a nice *HTIB* set, from I dunno, Energy, or Aperion, and of course those will most likely blow away their other, um, HTIB sets.