Best DAC for around $10K new or used

My top 4 were

ARC
Aesthetix Pandora
DCS
MSB Analog w premium power supply.

i set range at up to fifteen K new. Agree there is no such thing as BEST...

They all have virtues and leanings but in end I went with Pandora. have since upgraded it to SIG and there is another level of upgrade possible w stealth caps.

i think Jim White is a really talented digital and analog engineer, wanted a path to upgrade vs replace, appreciate tube rolling and also with path to DSD which the SIG has. Some future proofing provided by FPGA approach ( other dacs but not all have this) and finally an engineers engineer approach to Farady cage and some control of RFI and grunge.

My 2 nd choice and it was close is the MSB Analog.

I would say that the home audition is perhaps MOST important step.

Tomic601, looks like you too can benefit by going direct from Pandora to poweramps to get ultimate resolution as Aesthetix points out below.

"An optional high resolution relay-based volume control may be added to either Pandora or Romulus, allowing the units to directly drive a power amplifier.
The Pandora and Romulus volume control prevents all resolution loss by operating partially in the digital domain for small 1dB steps and partially in the analog domain using relay-based switched resistors for large 6dB steps. Using this method, eighty-eight 1dB steps are created with zero loss of resolution."

Cheers George

Tomic,
Did you get the volume control option?
Have you rolled tubes?

Get a Lampizator Big 7 from someone who "must have" the Golden Gate. Within your price range and a "Destination DAC."
Sounds like MUSIC.

No and yes.
Relied on my dealer and a few others I trust who believe that a preamp of good quality yields better sound. I am not seeking to add fuel to that debate. i believe the volume control and buffering in my ARC 5 SE would qualify as good.
They also did not stock or demo the feature. dealers I screened all four DACs prior to home trials were: Sunnys ARC, Audio Alternative Aesthetix, ARC, Nuts about Hi Fi Aesthetix. borrowed a MSB from a bud. DSC and ARC at Optimal enchantment. The VC is a relatively inexpensive option on the Pandora at $1K. But again nobody seemed high on it. Some downright against it.
Tube rolling yes. i spoke w Glen at Aesthetix and he recommended Andy at Antique Tube Services. rolled in some small motorola RCA and Bugle Boys.
I also have some cryo treated Russian Rockets that are very nice.