Does that mean that a person cannot hold an opinion such as "I don't like the sound of 78s"? After all, it is impossible to listen to all gramophones. Maybe there's a superb one out there that knocks high res audio into a cocked hat.
You can hold whatever opinion you want, old bean, and I won't even try to stop you! However, if you make a comment about a specific product, I'd like to at least know what the comment is based upon. So, if you say "I'm not expecting much from Devialet because I've never met a class D amplifier that I like", well, more power to your elbow, but if you say "Devialet is ****" without elaboration on the basis for that conclusion, it's probably not so useful to me. And strangely enough, a lot of people (on other forums) were very quick to make assumptions about Devialet based on very scant knowledge, and to publicly trumpet the same.
(I should probably say I'm actually a huge fan of Devialet amps, and have been since the D-Premier, so normally I'm on the other side of the criticism. I've been generally appalled by the anti-Devialet sentiment across some of the UK forums, for example, especially from those who have never heard a single Devialet product, but who just assume that because it's in a shiny box it's a lifestyle product and nothing more.)
The answer, of course, is that it is possible to work out a valid opinion from facts, figures and subjective experiences that do not include each and every product out there.
I totally agree, but when a product is genuinely "new" it's hard to separate the well-considered extrapolation from the mindless bashing.
However, in this case, I really would like to hear these Phantoms myself! I may be drawing the wrong conclusions about them through sheer prejudice concerning their appearance and their target market.
Funny thing from my side was that when I first heard about them I assumed they were going to be an assault on the high-end (a bit like the Kii Three seems to be attempting, but time will tell there). My previous experience with Devialet meant that I expected something with really high-end sound in a lifestyle package. To that end, I've been somewhat disappointed, but it's clear now that my expectations were all wrong. To be honest, I'm still not sure what the target market is. Is it for wealthy people looking for a better Sonos? Is it the iPod generation now growing up and making a bit of money? Is it audiophiles who are tired of audiophilia? I'm really not sure.