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.
Couldn't agree more. IMO the soundstage is from the 2nd order harmonic distortion.
Same with amps. The Benchmark ABH2 and DAC3 won't give you soundstage but they will give you very high detail.
IMO, what is better is what our system needs to create balance with our preferences. Some call that synergy.
Pro Audio folks poke fun at us, but our goals are just different. Some AV folks also laugh at us, but trying to make music sound believable with only two channels ain't easy. ;-)