Best DAC for under $1500

I had the North Star. It is a very smooth and analog sounding DAC. Works great with the matching transport.

Another option I would consider is a Monarchy M24 or NM24. The M24 is tube only and available used if you can find one. The NM24 has both tube and solid state output stages. So you can switch between the two if you like. It can also serve as a linestage preamp, although I never used mine that way.

PS Audio Dac 3 modified by Cullen.

I too have maggies- 3.5Rs, biamped with active XO. 4 heads up products that have done it for me

1. Raysonic 168 CD player- killer variable tube output
2. Wyred4Sound amps
3. Morrow Audio MAP 2 power cords
4. Clear Day solid core speaker cables - shotgun silver

I very much enjoyed my (formerly owned) Kora Hermes DAC. This is a tubed based DAC which provides lots of flexibility in adjusting the sound by swapping out tubes. I have owned a couple of DACs and this would be on the high side of such a list for me where I to go back to a DAC set-up.

Thanks! What about the Theta Va?

There is a Camelot Uther DAC III for sale here for $800. It was Stereophile class A rate back in the early 2000's. Also offers great flexibility in that you do not need a preamp. Just a thought and no it is not my listing and I do not work for Camelot. I have used the Uther IV for about 6 years and have not heard anything significantly better.