Advice on stand alone DAC

You might want to look at a used Bel Canto DAC 1, 1.1, or 2. Good value and great product.

To take full advantage of any 2ch dac will require a 2ch preamp.

Just last week I added a Bel Canto DAC 2 to my Elite 59avi and Redbooks do sound better. Although the 59's DAC is said to be very good I find the Bel Canto to be better. The Bel Canto is hooked up to a tube pre & I use a tube amp. The combination sounds good.
Jeff

Take a look at a modded Museatex Bitstream. I have yet to hear anything better for the money (or for that matter, several times the money.

Avguygeorge: Sorry, but I failed to mention I'll be using a Yamaha RX-V2500 receiver. So my thinking is to output from the Pioneer's digital to a DAC's digital in, then stereo analog out from the DAC to the stereo analog input of the Yamaha (which has a "Pure Direct" which bypasses all processing by it). Does that sound OK or am I missing something.

Bojack: Thanks for the suggestions. I once owned a BC DAC I, and found it too 'dry' for my taste. I now use an Audio Aero Capitole II cdp in my main system up North, which also includes a mix of ss and tubes (Herron & Joule), which is why I would like to add tubes to this little setup.

Nutella: I frankly hadn't heard of the Museatex, but a little reading on threads make it sound like a very interesting possibility. The only problem would appear to be finding someone willing to part with one!

electrocompinent dac ( goes for $1100- $1200)...a little on the lush side, but INCREDIBLEY musical....

Agree on the Electrocompaniet in your price range. It is awesome.

Talk to Vlad at Audio Mirror, The D2 is pretty amazing and well within your budget.

Running into Yamaha receiver? In my opinion buying an external dac would be a waste of money. Why not just run your DVD player into Yamaha via digital cable and use Yamaha's dac to do the work for redbook cd playback? Otherwise, if you really crave external dac, then a dedicated 2ch linestage is a necessity. The potential of a good external dac will not be realized in Yamaha's 2ch mode. Just my $.02