R to r dacs

I was completely taken by the sq of the Aqua hi fi la scala dac during a demo. Even with a discount the price is out of budget

And that wasn’t the best of them.
For your budget look at the discrete R2R from Soekris, Dutch manufacture with dealers in the US
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/discrete-r2r-ladder-dac-from-soekris-absolute-sounds-review

Cheers George

I have two friends who own the La Scala. One previously owned and loved the La Voce II and upgraded even though the La Voce was very good. The other owned Meridien's top of the line preamp with built-in dac(latest version). He borrowed the La Scala and a Schitt Yggdrassil. We and another friend who's a professional musician and an industry insider(highend preamp manufacturer) compared all 3 DACs over numerous sessions over a month. We all liked the La Scala best.
I found myself in the same boat as you recently looking to move up from a Schitt Gungnir Multibit, considered same contenders including Soekris, and ended up choosing the Pontus II. After about 6 weeks with the Pontus, I'm thrilled with it and think based on what you've shared, think you would too. 
My experience with Soekris was on a friend's system with an older model. That rig wasn't super resolving, so it's hard to draw too much from it, but I didn't walk away impressed. 
@georgehifi or anyone else hear the latest Soekris vs Pontus II side-by-side? Sometimes, the world's still too big. Cheers,
Spencer

+1 for hearing about Pontus II & Soekris (1541) side by side.

What is your budget?  I have the Aqua La Voce S3, it's excellent.