A warm DAC?

@larseand ,Head over to Audiocircle and check the threads in the Discless Circle for the Musical Paradise MP-D2 DAC thread for owner reviews.

I was in the same search as you a couple years ago and took a chance on the MP-D2 MkII.
You can spec the DAC chip (I'd recommend the AK4497), and run a full range of tubes options. I've settled on a NOS Westinghouse 5U4G rectifier and a matched set of NOS Amperex JAN 7308 tubes. The sound is glorious and towards the full, warm side of the spectrum. Swapping driver tubes to a set of NOS BEL ECC88, yields a very different signature (lighter, more sparkle up top). So, the tube compliment plays a big role. All in at about $1500. You could spend the rest on nice cables. It's worth looking into this hidden gem.

bel canto 2.7 or better yet the 3.7 are silky smooth / musical and all the micro detaisl and dynamics without the digital hash, rigging or sterility.  

Border Patrol or a used Aqua la Voce. Both sound organic and natural. Add a Cardas Cross or Golden Cross interconnect, and it will be organic and warm in a way that you will never get tired of it. I ended up with Aqua and found its combination with Cardas Cross quite addictive.

Another vote for R2R--even more so for NOS.

Another vote for MHDT Labs Orchid w/tube buffer. Very nice sound.

Another suggestion: ditch the USB input of whatever DAC you have & use coax cable coming from a SPDIF converter (there are a number of very good ones). So the USB cable goes into the converter, and coax cable comes out, going to DAC. I use a Musical Fidelity 24/192 converter w/a silver coax cable from Oyaide--and I'll never go back to USB straight into the DAC.  

@alexbpm, what mods of Grannyring's do you refer to? I bought cables from him once, but didn't know he modded DACs.

vinylvalet,

Just curious.
Was the Gungnir Multibit included in the shootout?