Recommend A New DAC Between $1000 and $2000

I tweak  everything I own for Decades to get the most out of it 

the New Gustard R2R26  is a excellent dac , theway the circuitry is situated 

a very good fuse makes a very big difference in this dac I own both the pontus 2 

and theGustard , the pontus no fuse option , I put the Synergistic research purple 

in there , and in all dacs a good powercord is a must ,the Pangea awg14 sig mk2

with Cardas wire is very respectable for $200. The pontus is a bit smoother on top - laid back , thegustard with the purple fuse is better in the bass more depth and detail ,it’s a bit better rounded dac ,if you are willing to spend the extra ,have a decent powercord for any good dac , and either the synergistic purple fuse 

or even better the QSA purple fuse but that is $330 vs $200 and give these fuses 200+ hours.  Our Audio get together had them both for the  day  70% took the Gustard setup as I described.

That's easy:

Gustard x26 pro

Gustard a26

Gustard r26

All well below 2k

Haven’t heard the Gustard R2R but reviews are off the charts. That’s where I would go. I have a Musician Aquarius and if it’s anywhere near that and by all accounts it is (possibly better) could be a steal. It’s a business obviously so prices will go up IMO in the near future if that’s the case. 
 

+1 on the Black Ice / Jolida tube dac. Great dac, very musical and can even be had used for well under $500. Wish I still had it to compare. 

Oh, I was not paying attention.

A Schiit Yggdrasil DAC. Outstanding sound for the money, even if a tad over your price point. It competes favorably with DACs of twice the cost. I did a deep dive into budget DACs for a friend of mine, in the process bought a Schiit Gungnir for my office system and my got my friend to buy the Yggdrasil… great sounding DAC for the money.

Border Patrol might do it for you also maybe an AN Kits Dac.