https://www.gearslutz.com/board/top-ten/1056578-best-eq-plugins-2016-a.html
https://www.gearslutz.com/board/top-ten/1067968-best-compressor-plugins-2016-a.html
I have all of the TDR and Klanghelm plugins, which do well in this poll.

No big surprises from the Gearslutz crowd..

well i was surprised by the klanghelm "win"

Good post.  Thanks clintmartin!  What is interesting is that the favorite compressor is a mere $27.  Very cool.

Yeah, MJUC is an excellent compressor. MJUC and Kotelnikov are my most used comps by far. If price wasn't a factor Pro-C2 would probably win, but with most real users price is a factor.
MJUC and Kotelnikov combined are less than half the cost of Pro-C2. They are easy to use, and sound fantastic.

I'm never sure what it is I'm supposed to take away from such polls.
 
Is it that I should go out and buy whatever is most popular among a certain group? I don't select anything else by that criteria. I don't drive a Toyota Camry, for instance (no room for my gear!).
 
Is it that the collective wisdom of a group can discern what's "best" better than an individual could? Call it the "Justin Bieber" theory, e.g. 50 million fans can't be wrong.
 
Should I assume that the poll respondents a) know more about plugins than the rest of us, or that b) have tried out more plugins than we have, and therefore possess information not generally known? Doesn't seem likely, given that none of the products listed are the least bit obscure. 
 
I'm curious; who reads these kinds of lists and then bases subsequent purchase decisions on them?

 With all of the EQs, compressors I have from Waves, IK, and the ones included in DAWs, I should learn how to use them. I made a post about the MJUC some time ago because of the reviews in CM.

bitflipper
I'm never sure what it is I'm supposed to take away from such polls.
 
Is it that I should go out and buy whatever is most popular among a certain group? I don't select anything else by that criteria. I don't drive a Toyota Camry, for instance (no room for my gear!).

 
I find polls, reviews, comments and the like useful in the other direction.  If hundreds are dissatified I can quickly stay way.  If many are happy, then it might be worth going further and learning about the advantages and disadvantages and how I myself might benefit.  But that's only a starting point.
 
The poll in question has to be weighted in favour of the cheap or free, just because they allow a larger number to participate.  If the best compressor is 1000$ (which it might very well be) but only one voter has ever used it, the compressor won't be high on the list.  It would have been better to label the poll as "Most Popular", not "Best".
 

bitflipper
... 
I'm curious; who reads these kinds of lists and then bases subsequent purchase decisions on them?

I don't give one little crapola about most lists. Most. The ones I do find potentially useful?
 
The ones that include the "whys"; the ones that are more than mere lists.
 
And that's just a part of the research.
 
But then I'm an old engineer by trade, and I'm capable of overthinking ANYTHING. 

i usually listen to folks who i know, who actually 'produce' products that pass muster.
 
i haven't heard very many finished mastered recordings from anyone of that bunch at gearslutz, 
so it makes me wonder about the worth of the poll.
 
those guys talk about gear all the time....
so show us the end product, and say 'this is what i used.'
then i'll pay attention.