To the OP and the question of whether it is worth it to buy a vintage, quality DAC - I would say yes if you can buy it for a reasonably low amount and/or it has been serviced and is in decent working order. The early higher end DACs focused more on the tried and true principles - things like high quality power supplies (not wall warts or switching power), a heavy, inert chassis, and the implementation of a quality analog circuit. When D/As became a $99-500 commodity, these design principles went out the window and the focus was on the chipset and general architecture (ladder, R2R, etc). The original designs put note emphasis on the “A” instead of the “D.” Of course, a heavy, isolated, acoustically inert chassis is expensive, and good power supplies are expensive as well. That’s why companies like Schiit and Denefrips focus more on the “D” side of the equation.
There are current brands, obviously, that combine the state of the art on both sides of the fence, and they are predictably very expensive, and they sound great. I’m listening to an EMM Labs DAC right now, in fact, and its mind blowing. It replaced an also-good Lampizator DAC. I was in the camp saying how great the Lampis were, how much smoother, etc - untilI got my hands on an EMM. Steve Guttenberg reviewed the equivalent DAC from the less expensive Meitner line, the MA-1, and compared it with his reference, the Denefrips Terminator. Basically he said there was no comparison between the two.
So if you are game, it might be worth it to try either a really early, high quality DAC, or perhaps a newer (but still older) ~ 2010 EMM or similar. You can get an early one for $3,000-$4,000 easily (compared to current ones at $16,000-$25,000). Much of the magic for a deep discount.
