Yeah, Dan; that sort of "review", describing in glowing terms the "sound" of a piece of electronic equipment, can't be taken seriously. If the amplification process is understood, it's clear that all that's happening is that enough voltage is being added from the power supply section to make the small incoming voltage about 30 times stronger. If this is done with flat frequency response and inaudibly low noise and distortion(typical in even modestly-priced units these days), the result is transparent amplification without any added sound characteristic, and no amplifier, regardless of whether it costs $200 or $200,000, can do more than this.

The editor of The Audio Critic summarizes this very well in "Electronic Signal Paths Do Not Have a Personality!" . Of course where such reviewers lack the equipment or technical knowledge to provide meaningful measurements, they're reduced to operating on a "Just trust your ears" level, which is hopelessly flawed when not done under carefully-controlled blind listening conditions.

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Enjoy the music, not the equipment.