Denafrips Pontus is a good starter. $1800. If you hate it they resell in seconds.
+1 on Denafrips Pontus. And he is not kidding when he says they resell in seconds. I was fortunate to buy a gently used Terminator 2 recently. What a phenomenal DAC! My friend had been on the look out for a used Pontus 2 and like chorus mentioned, they show up on used marketplaces and are snapped up in minutes if not seconds. He finally gave up and ordered a new one. These DACs are the real deal -- above average sound, build quality, and customer service. There's a reason you can recoup more than 80% of your investment when selling a Denafrips DAC.