$10,000 for a DAC? Someone's priorities, i.e., the important ones, the social ones, are out of whack. Never mind that the claim that there is a audible difference of $9700. Or is the $3000 device a piece of crap? Or or we just saying, "I've got money to blow?" And little common sense?
Even as practical advice, this is worthless to anyone who lives in a world of budgets.