The Arcam rDAC is quite good. Don't be too quick to discount the old Theta DACs. I have a Cobalt that I was looking to replace. The budget DACs weren't good enough to do it to my ears - V-DAC, DAC Magic, etc. It took the $1k Rega to make it worthwhile for me. The rDAC probably would have replaced it if the Rega wasn't available, but I'm not 100% sure.
Everyone says newer is better. Not always. The Thetas used far better power supplies and input and output stages than today's budget wall wart an op-amp based DACs.
Everyone says newer is better. Not always. The Thetas used far better power supplies and input and output stages than today's budget wall wart an op-amp based DACs.