because they review as a source of income not as a hobby.

while I'm not disputing anyone's credibility, ultimately these guys are part of the headphone industry. "buy a solid pair of $200-$500 headphones, EQ them to taste, go on with your life" isn't a way to make a living as a head-fi "influencer"

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To be fair, how exhausting would it be to review a new pair of headphones, and then have to contextualize and make mention of the 376,798 pairs that came before them? Every. Single. Video.

My understanding is that most reviewers receive review units that they eventually have to send back to the company. So when it comes time to make comparisons, they're probably only able to A-B what they currently have lying around from other companies (or what's in their own personal collection). I wouldn't want to be throwing out subjective comparisons to headphones I haven't heard in years unless I had a very systematic/objective resource to back up my memory (e.g. Crinacle has his ranking and measurements).

(That's the charitable reading of course, there's also probably an element of pressure to feature mostly new stuff because that's what people want to see, will make their video do better, etc)

Reviewing older models doesn't sell clicks.

Seems like a good system would be to maybe have a "price point leaderboard" or something with like 5-10 pairs that form the basis for comparisons. Headphones can get moved in or out depending on their performance and stuff. That way you don't have to keep track of the dozens of mediocre sets of cans that pass through your hands every year but can still let people know that the best headphones of 2016 are still relevant or alternatively, you think the market has moved on.

They always say that they "aren't being paid or influenced to say anything good or bad about this product" but they know as well as us that it's all hype cycle. They are paid for views, and people view what is new. That's what keeps the lights on for these reviewers. And I don't blame them. I also appreciate their honesty usually, but I know this is all just consumerism.

Yeah, when Innerfidelity was still a thing, Tyll used to have the Wall of Fame, which was similar to what you are suggesting, and it was certainly helpful. Crinacle and Resolve have their own respective modern lists as well, with Crinacle's being the more exhaustive one. Both definitely have their place as well.

Ultimately, there's bound to be one or more pairs that won't make the cut, and users may still feel slighted to not get a mention. Also, as odd as it is, the double edged sword sometimes rears its ugly head when pockets of communities adopt said lists as gospel, and anything that falls outside is deemed not worth pursuing, which to me is even worse than having no list at all.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't. :/