$1100 for the Eastern Electric Minimax Plus. Which has SPDIF coax input as well as async USB input.
It's more expensive than perhaps you're looking to spend, but will serve you better long term. It satisfies your present need and will will work very well indeed when you want to move to a computer based source. Plenty of opportunities to roll opamps too.
If you do decide to go for the EE DAC Plus, use the solid state outputs and pull the tube. It'll deliver a more transparent and dynamic presentation if it doesn't need to keep the tube powered.
I think it's the best value in the $1K price range currently.
For less money, the Schiit Bifrost DAC with USB weighs in at $449, and the CIAudio Transient is a USB to SPDIF converter plus Wolfson based DAC and starts at $699, with an option for an outboard power supply for an additional $329.
It's more expensive than perhaps you're looking to spend, but will serve you better long term. It satisfies your present need and will will work very well indeed when you want to move to a computer based source. Plenty of opportunities to roll opamps too.
If you do decide to go for the EE DAC Plus, use the solid state outputs and pull the tube. It'll deliver a more transparent and dynamic presentation if it doesn't need to keep the tube powered.
I think it's the best value in the $1K price range currently.
For less money, the Schiit Bifrost DAC with USB weighs in at $449, and the CIAudio Transient is a USB to SPDIF converter plus Wolfson based DAC and starts at $699, with an option for an outboard power supply for an additional $329.