Ayre QB9 Twenty, in fact any Ayre will outperform your previous Dacs.
Schiit Yggy comes a llittle bit below the Ayre, but still very good.
If you can score a used unit, then you are well below $3K.
I hate to say it, but at $3K you aren't going to get 'special', but very good.
Unfortunately, you would need to increase you budget around 3x to get into the 'special' level.
Bob