DACs are fascinating. All DACs present you with a tradeoff between detail and soundstage. If you are looking for fine inner detail, great separation of strings, etc... be prepared to compromise in terms of soundstage. If your priority is soundstage, be willing to compromise in terms of absolute detail.
In the sub $2K range, I am far from an expert. But two units I know well are the Chord Qutest and the Questyle CMA 12. Chord has a reputation for being a bit forward and in practice, bright. It also tends to not have a very wide soundstage. That said, no one is better than Chord in terms of soundstage depth and stability between the speakers. If you want a clear and stable central image, Qutest is amazing.
Alternatively, the CMA 12 sounds big. It has scale in terms of width of soundstage and good depth. Your image will extend well beyond the outside of your speakers assuming proper setup. It is neutral to maybe a hair warm. Inner detail compared to Chord Qutest will be okay. It is detailed, but not in the same league as Chord. Just like Chords soundstage width is not in the same league as Questyle.
At a root level, there are tons of awesome DACs on the market. Do your research and try one in your system on a return policy. Most return policies charge you return shipping and maybe 3% making your risk relatively small.
Based on your comments above, it does look like you are not getting hung up on R2R vs Chip vs FPGA. That is wise. People make generalizations about these styles but that is driven more by the house sounds of popular brands rather than actual differences in how they reproduce sound.
I have no practical recommendations on what you should actually demo. As I said, this is a price range I don't know that well. Hopefully the above comparison helps.
