I am not saying his post raised the light on other front ends however, it shows Elnors inexperience. The only way you can judge anything is to switch out one variable and listen.
Going to three different rooms with three entirely different systems it is impossible to discern what is doing what to the sound, you could speculate that the front end is accounting for the difference but it is just one element in a reproduction chain, and then you have the room differences to counter as well!
I would add to the list of great sounding front ends out now
the Esoteric K03 and the AMR CD 77.1 both of these players sound really good, but without having a comparison to any of the other players it is all speculation on which sounds the best, and speaking of best that is a totally personal issue, best in what capacity?