I’m saying from the OP:
“Objective
Nudge the system towards a sweeter, richer, more relaxed presentation.”
“Proposed solution / first step
Upgrade to a (tube based) DAC, budget $25-40k.”
A company that sells this would never send it to a reputable reviewer with measurement capabilities cause it would measure much worse than a top notch 2k dac. At that point it’s mostly a very expensive tone control. Can’t name a model but let’s say 10k on a crazy expensive dsp would get a lot further IMO and be super transparent. Not talking vinyl and tube amps which I understand more. I’m not saying it wouldn’t sound great. I’m sure it would.