Tubes or not

I have owned a lot of dacs and recently sold my very good $6k 
PS audio dac, for the Latest Tube dac from Lampizator 
the Amber-3. It is very natural and detailed ,just go to Enjoy the music.com .look it up the review was 5 stars across the board for sonics, you can better it still witha top 3.1 amp fuse, and 
upgrade the 6x5 rectifier tube to the great Bendix and 1 12au7 tube to a Top NOS tube like an Amperex PQ the ecc99 is good , and a good power cord  that is all for $2750 for sonic realism 
nothing better even at 2x the price ,and has a 14 day  return policy. Every one is built and tested in Poland ,distributor is here in NY, read the review then check it out.

If you really want a tube dac I would second the Orchid. However if you have a tube pre or power amp the Pure Audio Lotus 5 beats the lot and you can probably get Wally at Underwood Hi Fi to sell for $1599 and maybe less.

I really liked the Musical Paradise MP-D2 when I heard it. It's a modular design that allows for upgrading DAC chips and other parts down the road as well. I think it's a killer buy for the money. Maybe someone else can speak to how it compares to some of the other DACs mentioned. I believe it meets all your other requirements as well. 

Just check out this new Lampizator Amber3 dac for under $3k 
it is a steal ,I sold my flagship PS audio dac that was 2x the price .

https://www.headphone.guru/lampizator-amber-iii-hi-res-dac-review-by-enjoy-the-music-com/

nikonnola
  Currenty I have a Wadia Di22 .

Wadia's are great dacs, this Wadia has a great output stage ,<100ohms output impedance and is capable of giving up to 4v se, 8v xlr output!!

 I hope you took the preamp out (if one was used) and tried it direct into your power amp and then used the Wadia's inbuilt volume control

Cheers George