Internet reviews are a really good way to identify some of the best, most consistently good-value products in almost any hobby or field. If you look at this sub, you would think there are only a dozen brands in the entire hardware industry (I even made a meme about it).
There is so much great gear out there that you will never find reading reviews and forums. Not that there’s anything wrong with LS50’s and Schiit and Topping and SVS and Monoprice. But I think we would all do ourselves a favor to try to listen to a wide array of equipment, especially used equipment, which is often fantastic and worth 10x its cost in sound quality.
It sounds like you’re just annoyed that the increase in consumer knowledge has led to many losing interest in the majority of brands out there, which is fine because that info mentioned above has shown us that A LOT of gear is junk.
I haven’t heard any older brands like you’ve mentioned sound anywhere near as good as more modern designs that aim for better neutrality on axis and employ techniques to get off axis response these older brands could only dream of.