Best DAC for around $2,500 or less

A used Aqua la Voce S3 would be a fantastic option. They don't come up used often though. 

DAC’s aren’t at all like Speakers, or even Power Amps when it comes to adding flavor to sound systems. 20 years ago, when I was young and impressionable I might have agreed with you, but when the goal is converting 0’s and 1’s to an analog waveform, measured performance really should be king, imo. If you want to add a sonic signature that you find pleasing to your system I feel like the equipment to do that with are primarily speakers, followed by amps.

Sources, which DAC’s are, now that the majority of people are using computer based front end’s, should be as clean as possible, and SINAD is one of the best ways to measure that.

This is exactly as I see it now after about 20 years. A super clean DAC and preamp make even middling amplification and my KEF LS50’s sing better than ever. I actually used the SINAD as a guide to my front end choices.

If you can  go a little more say 40 thousand the top of line Aqua dac and CD player . Use yor credit Card then claim chapter 13 your in !! Hire a good lawyer would help .

@kishekar  Fantastic post!!! Copying it here, in it's entirety, because it's commendable for it's wisdom and perspective. Thank you.

Does that thinking translate to cartridges? After all, they are a source too. It's an analog-to-analog conversion, but to stay logically consistent, why should deviation from accuracy have any place there either?

This is a hobby entirely of personal preferences -- and I assume most people put their enjoyment of music over the accuracy of a given piece of equipment's measurement. I would never claim the Border Patrol is the most accurate DAC – I 100% trust the measurements that say it is not. But given I have a Benchmark DAC sitting inches from it, and have put 100s (maybe 1000s?) of hours into listening to both, in same system, I feel pretty confident knowing which one I enjoy more. For arguments sake, I could even buy someone saying "there's a mental trick/placebo thing going on and you are fooling yourself" and my response would be "OK, maybe you are right... but I'm not looking to cure cancer with this DAC, and if I'm fooling myself into this much pleasure, please don't give me the real medicine if it lowers my enjoyment"

And isn't maximizing enjoyment ultimately the dimension that the OP is most likely aiming for within the $2,500 budget?  

Of course, if the question was "which is the best measuring DAC where I can be happy with the graphs it produces?" then we are having a totally different discussion and I'd only point to the BP as what *not* to do.

As I've noted elsewhere on this forum... I recently obtained a Yggy, which when teamed with the Audio Reseach 5SE preamp, and a A21 / JC-2's driving Linkwitz Orion's, or Harbeth 30.1's - provides exceptional detail resolution, imaging, and holographic soundstage, not too mention the remarkable tone, tenor and texture, PRAT, and all the rest.  I was persuaded to try the Yggy, based on all of the various reviews, which maintain that it competes with the very best DAC's available at any price.  

This experience has convinced me that the R2R Ladder Dacs are superior to all the rest.  

Though, the various comments that the Denafrips Terminator, or AM Trubador III provide a comparable sound - I think a lot depends on the rest of your system, and how well those components mate with the DAC.  I find it difficult to believe it can get much better, than what I've experienced, so far... though I may someday find out.