I once bought an Orelle DAC purely on the strength of an absolutely glowing review in HiFi News. It was good, but not exceptional and for a long time I regretted not buying the used Meridian 203 which my dealer recommended.

Since then, I've never trusted a review in a HiFi mag - at best they're subjective and at worst biased for the all the wrong reasons.

Cliff

Main system - Sources (Kodi-HTPC, Vero 4k, FireTV, Sat) into Trinnov Altitude 32 (8-16) (+Roon), Trinnov Amplitude 8 amp & Vivid Audio (Giya G3, V1.5) and REL Stentor III speakers. Others: F80 + Raspberry Pi and other Pi systems.