DAC recommendation in 5 to 10K range

I have not heard the Terminator yet, but I have heard its clone Musician Aquarius (they are basically the same company), and the sound was what you have described.

I have just concluded a one month search for a new DAC and tried the following:

- Musician Aquarius
- Aqua La Scala MKII
- Rockna Wavelight
- Rockna Wavedream
- Audiobyte Hydravox
- Teac UD-701N
- Esoteric N-05XD
- Sonnet Morpheus
- Lab12 Reference Dac1

And I settled on Lab12 Reference Dac1 in the end. The sound you are looking for was exactly what I was searching for and I found it in the Lab12. Close contenders were La Scala MKII and Teac UD-701N. Listening to it now while I was typing this reply. 

That Lab12 dac is a sleeper. I had it for a month and I thought it was better than the Weiss Dac502, in my room. I just sold the Lab12 to TMR because I got caught up in not being able to upsample it to DSD and not having volume control. I think I made a mistake by not keeping it.

@phastm3 

Well, it's less than one third the price of the Weiss, why not just get another one for a secondary setup?

I had the pleasure of doing an A/B comparison of Sonnet Morpheus and the Lab12 DAC1 because they were carried by the same dealer, and it was not even funny how the DAC1 was superior to Morpheus in every way. I also don't understand how that reviewer from Alpha Audio came to the conclusion these two sounded similar, because the Morpheus was clearly a lot brighter and more intense to listen to, whereas the DAC1 was simply just so much more easier to listen at louder volume but without sacrificing speed and liveliness. The soundstage for DAC1 was also clearly wider and the bass quality was significantly better. I think I have reached my end-game DAC. Maybe if I strike lottery I might consider listening to DCS Vivaldi or MSB Reference, but I struggle to think how other DAC could get much better than the Lab12. 

I added a Denafrips Gaia DDC to my Terminator (original with DSP upgrade) and used an i2S connection between the Gaia and DAC. I was very surprised by the improvement. More dynamic, smoother sounding, and improved sound stage. 

I've since upgraded to a Terminator Plus which I'm very happy with, but just adding the Gaia to the original Terminator was a very noticeable improvement. 

@auroravengeance im thinking about trying the Teac 701n because it has the analog preamp. I’m using an Aries G2 now, but I plan on selling it. I think the Teac with the Teac external clock might be worth a try