Good point on separates. For my last round of upgrades, I considered going to a better integrated amp. Looked at SIM, Hegel, Atoll, Audiolab, Rega, Exposure, etc. I thought the internal DACs were no improvement to my JDS. ( took it with me to A/B a couple of them) In isolation, only the Moon seemed to be not as good so one could live happily with a ton of 50 to 100W A/B integrated amps. But I don't need all the extra switching, headphones, or as it seems, the internal DAC. None had the level of analog tone control I wanted. and most had the stupid power on to stand-by issue. ( Andiolab and Exposure did not) So I bought a Vidar and Lokius for less than half the price. I was almost going to buy some Sonas Fabers, but the upgrade to mine pushed them to their level at least. That's the only reason I can get past the wife the idea of another DAC.
And very true, a big part of boutique products is sales in the hundreds ( they hope) does not amortize as well as in the hundreds of thousands and engineering spread over many products. As an engineer I may understand that, but as a consumer with limited or maybe just rational means, what do I get for my buck? What do I get from the brick and mortar distribution? No one is going to show up and install a $900 DAC like a set of Wilsons.
So I have an approach. It seems once above the mass produced bottom tier, DACs that garner some interest seem to be stand alone requiring a preamp. More money. So I ordered an Alps servo pot remote board from China-Inc. I hope it is a real ALPS. I am going to stuff this into my Asgard along with a little mixer to give a buffered mono sub out. So a very good remote control preamp and phones for under $100 outlay. Single ended but my cables are all very short.
That puts into the cost range the Mojo, Bifrost, Ares entry level non D/S chip wonders. Better or not, probably different. It still leaves open the better of the all-in-one that may be worth a try like the SU-9pro. Returnable if I hear no difference.
I just can't get excited enough to do the big jump to the Holo Spring full version, Pontus, Hugo range. Maybe that is the real step up as most have suggested. I hear you. I just can't go there. There does just not seem to be anything of real improvement value between sup 1K and close to 3. I look at something like the R26 and can't help but to think it is a $500 DAC with $800 in features I don't need. A good one, but no better.
I think a point I made was miss-understood. At some cost, there is nothing else you can do from a strait engineering improvement. Above that, there may be value to some for exclusive, visuals, etc. but there just isn't anything known to make it sound better. Hand built does not make better sound. Mono-block billet machining does not sound better. Actually a stamped steel case has better shielding. ( OK, who is advertising Mu-Metal shielding? You want high end, use better materials! ) If it is a value to you, fine. There is also the diminishing returns way below that level where the home system electronics is far superior to the studio. To put it bluntly, at some point you are transporting a load of manure in a Rolls Royce hoping it will smell better. My quest is only sonic performance. A Bugatti won't get me to the store any faster than my GTI and considering real roads ( like the music source) the GTI is a better match. It is a big step up from a Yogo but above it, there is not really much more you can do in real performance.