The popularity of AvE is telling; clearly many people want to know what they are buying.
His detailed teardowns are very interesting; he shares a lot of knowledge about polymers and electronics and combines this with practical experience about failure modes and use cases. At the end of the day it's clear that you get what you pay for if you know what you're doing. Some of his assertions about how manufacturers use brands parallel this story.
I think a lot of the HN set would not be able to tolerate the guy, however. He is not 'reformed,' to say the least.