Best used or new DAC under $3500

Hi Wig,

Congratulations on your purchase!
I have owned Gary Dews (Border Patrol) amps. and I know he has some great inventions out there.  He puts a lot of merit in his power supplies and of course likes tubes both of which makes his modest price DAC sound so good along with the lack of upsampling.
For the money, I would feel very confident in your decision as a winner so good choice. I like your idea of keeping the cost down in the ever changing digital world.
If I were to try something myself I would seek out his DAC with a CEC TL3 transport. Gary voiced his dac with a CEC TL0 transport looking for a natural musical experience and he obviously found it. Gary is a great guy for sure so I am sure you will find enjoyment with your decision.

Enjoy your music,
Gwalt

In negotiations for an AN 2.1, my beloved 7 day old BP Dac will be going up for sale. What a fantastic sounding Dac and it's going to make someone here very happy at a reduced price.

Wig

Hi Wig,
Another excellent choice but what makes you sure that you’ll prefer it compared to the BP (which you describe as fantastic) ? I’m not saying you wouldn’t but how do you know?
Charles

Having just gone through this, I ended up with an Ayre qb-9 DSD.  I know I can sell this and not lose any money should it not live up to my expectations.  

I looked at the Mytek Brooklyn DAC+ but didn't want to deal with some of the support issues I've recently read about.  I'm intrigued by MQA but it's not a deal breaker.

I also considered the Chord Hugo TT but my local dealer (who interestingly enough is also the Mytek dealer) wasn't very accommodating and I didn't feel it was worth 2x the cost of what I paid for the qb-9.

My experiences with the Ayre gear is quite different than the OP's but that is irrelevant.  We hear what we hear.