DAC upgrade

@mojo771, try to join the royalty program to see if the vendor gives you some promo credit. 

If your system is sorted in terms of noise reductions (clean power and good interconnects) and source jitter (accuracy), The gap in performance across the DACs you listed will shrink.

I'd recommend you consider and budget for those variables as well when choosing a DAC. You'll not be maximizing any DAC regardless of which you choose. From experience, it makes a HUGE difference.

That said, the Qutest is probably the best value of the bunch in terms of build quality and detail retrieval. Its sound isn't as meaty and full as some would like, but that works well paired with Tube Amps and thicker heavier sounding gear. It's the only piece of gear I've heard in your list.

Put the iFi iDSD Pro Signature in your list as well. It's quite good and highly customizable so you can dial in the type of sound you like. It also integrates a streamer with native Tidal, Spotify and Airplay support (via ethernet only, the wireless radio isn't very good at all).

Hi OP, I'd really encourage you to take a look at the Gustard offerings, either the R26 or A26. Chinese, but tank-like, and marvelous sound. I have the R26 and I'd call it dynamic, neutral, and detailed, but with a rich tone. The sound can be further refined to your liking with your cable choice if you want something smoother and warmer.

I bought mine as a set and forget DAC to use with an existing streamer, but I quickly learned how great the LAN input is. It's a Roon endpoint out of the box, or you can use it with a upnp app on your phone/computer, which adds tremendous value IMO. This has unexpectedly opened up a whole new world to me of room correction, DSD, upsampling with HQPlayer, etc, with no additional streamer needed. It even has a 10MHz clock input even if you want to go crazy. Good luck!

+1+++ for Denafrips Pontus II 12th.  If you also want to consider the USB solution, you can add the Denafrips Iris DDC 12th, which made things appreciably better through the I2S connection.

I think this discussion is going in a good direction since the OP is a vinyl guy.  R2R DACs make a lot of sense.  I would take a look at the Holo Audio Spring 3.  It's a  true Non Oversampling R2R DAC (Denafrips is not) that will sound very analogue.  New it's at your price point and second hand would be well below you $ threshold. Very highly rated by Stereophile.   Good luck and cheers.