Same story with my D-25M, Toni - I was headed to the music store intending to buy a Martin. They carried Martins, Gibsons, and Guilds. After test driving hog models of all three brands, I bought the Guild. It beat out the others in terms of intrinsic beauty, sound, and price, what's not to like about that?
The Gibson came in second, and that's when they were still making them here in Kalamazoo, MI.
The Gibson was $500, the Martin D-18 was $600, the Guild was $300, all with hardshell cases.
There was just something intriguing about that Guild...the arched back, the fit and finish, and tone and sustain, I just re-strung it the other night and played 3 gigs with it. The DV-52 has only a slight edge in terms of balanced tone, but the D-25 really sings, especially the low tones. Many guitars are bright on the high end but muddy on the low striings - not the D-25M. I use the lower wound strings to mark the tempo of songs, and it sure is nice when the tone is clear and loud.