Two ideas; and in the the spirit of being in this mad hobby, both of them are a teeny tiny bit more than your target budget.
I just added an RME ADI DAC-2 FS to my system and I'm a bit shocked at how much it outperforms the very capable Accuphase DAC-40 Option card installed in my E-470. I'm a total Accuphase fan, so didn't expect such a jump in SQ. I purchased the RME partly because it is so feature laden. It's just plain fun to use and a joy to look at. It's paired with a NODE, and also the optical out of our TV. I sometimes see used RME's for about a grand here and on UsAudiomart. Obviously there are a lot of great DACS out there and some would make the case that the RME could be bettered in sound quality for the price, but I can think of no other DAC that is so full of features.
My other idea is to get a Hana MH. I bought one for a secondary system in which I wanted to use an inexpensive phono preamp so I figured that the high-output version would lower the noise floor enough that any loss in ultimate resolution inherent in the higher mass of the pick-up would be a good tradeoff. This cart on a modest system is freakin' awesome. I'm going to replace my Ortofon Cadenza Black with it on my main system for an experiment and I'm girding myself for the possibility that this HOMC at half the price of the Ortofon LOMC will sound amazing.
Well, you have a fun problem to solve. I'm sure you'll get a lot of other worthy ideas too.
~Oran