And others who have owned all these brands have opined that their Yamaha is much better or Denon/Marantz is much better and wanted to get rid of their Anthem.
That's the point.
I fact, there is a recent post here where the owner is trying to sell his Anthem AVR and keep his Yamaha because he hated the Anthem.
Does it prove anything if someone proclaims that their Yamaha sounds far superior than their Anthem? Or their Denon or Marantz sounds far superior than the Anthem or NAD or vice versa?
Let's just say that the Anthem worked out better for you personally, while the Yamaha, Denon, Marantz, NAD, etc., worked out better for others.
Personally I don't think any brand sounds superior than the others as long as you have the optimal settings for each brand.