acoustic winner? anthem D2 vs Denon avp-A1HDCI vs Lexicon MC-12HD EQ

So how do you judge the acoustic quality of these different pieces given that the setup from one dealer to another is so different and a retailer will obviously promote the unit they are selling. I can't find anywhere to test any of these head to head. Has anyone out there done the direct comparison? Does anyone rent pieces like these for in home direct comparison?

It's hard to get past some of the snob factor as well. Some installers I talk to will discount the Denon as acoustically inferior yet there seem to be many very happy owners posting in that thread and there are plenty of anthem and lexicon devotees as far as I can tell.

I'm not trying start a riot here but rather genuinely asking how does one decide an issue like this. I find this particularly challenging given that audio "memory" is very misleading and fleeting, meaning that if I listen to a system in 1 place, then drive 30 minutes to listen to the next contender (even if they are driving the same speakers thru the same amp, which never is the case) it is not possible to hold a true memory of the audio from the first listening and bring it with me to the next stop.

I know there are codecs and features that are not constant between these contenders, and putting that aside for the moment, how do you honestly decide which one does better on the areas where features and capability overlaps.

I know this issue is close to philosophical rather than a detailed technical discussion but after reviewing many threads here and on other boards it seems that if I will get any meaningful answers at all they will be found here.

While I agree that feature set has some importance I assume that there can be significant differences acoustically between 2 pre-pros using the same feature (with all other equipment in the set up being held constant) but how on earth do you compare these differences without being able to do a side by side comparison? Do you just decide on feature set and company reputation? Do you just listen to a piece that has the feature set that you want (in a showroom with the gear that they have attached) and if it sounds good then assume that it will also sound good in your room with your speakers and amp? That seems to me to be a giant assumption prone to a great deal of error.