DAC Under $3000

Love my LAB 12 DAC 1 Ref.    Bought new,  traded a preamp toward it ,cost about $1600 out of pocket.    One of my most musically satisfying components ever.  

I have a Musician Aquarius for sale on the “other” site for a really great price. It’s the best digital I’ve ever heard in my house. Haven’t heard the stupid price stuff by way better than the 1-1.5k dacs I had before.

Of all the DACs I’ve owned the Electrocompaniet ECD-2 best fits that description. To my ears it has the “layering” and lush midrange of an NOS DAC but all the resolution of the measurement kings like Benchmark and Chord. Its measurements are nearly SOTA but it also has just enough color and warmth to keep it from becoming clinical or glassy. It retails for $3K but can occasionally be found pre-owned for much less. 

I’ve had the Qutest for 4+ years and think it is super detailed and really special sounding with a huge soundstage and preciese pinpointing of instruments. I’m ready to replace it due to its age. But it’s so good it’s difficult to find anything under $5k that tops it. I may try one of the ones I listed above but I’m unsure if they’ll be better or just different.

There are many DACs under $3K that outclass the Qutest IME. I owned the Qutest twice (the second time bought it for a great price with the sole purpose of flipping) and while it does have good resolution, it’s relatively 2-dimensional, lean and edgy. That’s only relative to some other good performing DACs, a couple of which cost considerably less than the Qutest: the Marantz HD-DAC1 and Denafrips Ares II. 
 

I can imagine a Qutest making for great synergy with a Mac anchored system. So of course, things aren’t always apples-to-apples. 

I recently experienced an Hegel HD 30 used with Valve Pre-Power Amp's and Klipsch Jubilee Speakers.

I have been demo'd a selectin of SS DAC's in systems I am familiar with at a price range that is up to £2500.

I have been demo'd DAC's in unfamiliar systems with a value up to £?????, but some I am sure are north of £10K.

Out of them all the Hegel is the one that has left for me an indelible memory, as a result of how much of a good impression it made.