The value of that review was that it woke people up, although I'm not sure it was intentional. I also doubt that ARC would sell the DAC8 if it wasn't damn good, but starting from the rebuttal ARC posted to the avalanche of mail this must have generated, it is fun to watch the spectacle.
Unusual TAS bomb
Something you don't see too often in this month's issue of TAS - a truly bad component review, of an Audio Research piece none-the-less. Alan Taffell reviewing the the DAC8 said "Overall the DAC 8 is simply not as involving, musically informative, or relaxing as it must be to compete at its price point" and that might have been the most polite thing he said about it. I've gotten so used to reading fawning reviews I almost didn't think they had it in them to really pan a piece of gear.