Benchmark DAC

I agree with Celtic66, as a NOS DAC is what I eventually ended up with (an MHDT Havana). You'll need to make sure it gets a clean digital signal(low jitter), as I believe most NOS DACs don't have the capability to deal with jitter like the Benchmark DAC1.

The DAC1 does a fantastic job of cleaning up jitter and will put a smile on your face for a day or two. Then you may realize it's bright (or that it exposes the rest of your system as being bright), or just shows you that your music collection may have some awful recordings. I had one for 10 months and tried it on no less than 3 different amps, eventually sold it. That said, a lot of people love its sound. You can always try it and sell it if it's not for you (I sold mine in a day, literally, though I lost a few hundred as I bought it new).

I will say I personally liked the DAC1 better than the Bel Canto DAC3. And that it did work well with a Musical Fidelity A308 integrated I had owned before (though that was with some "dark" speaker cables). I think the common theme with most digital products, including most DACs, is brightness or etch or glare or whatever. Some are more bright than others (i've owned four that I fed via an IMac or pc/laptop, so maybe the sources were at fault). Even the Havana was a bit bright until I fixed some other areas in my setup.

I don't think you'll find much more out there that gives you the detail the Benchmark does. Rather than spending a grip more on another DAC, buy a high-end power cord and see what difference that renders. I put a Python Helix on the one I used to own and was suprised at the improvement. Adding Hi-Fi tuning fuses to the DAC did help with some of the etch/glare (albeit subtle change, but noticeable since all you have to do is swap fuses back and forth to see the difference).

That said, I still sold the DAC1 as it was too bright for my setup.