Which DAC for $5K or less?

I have been reading about the Benchmark Dac1 Pre (Equation "solved"?!), Berkeley Alpha Dac (rave review by same mag.), Audio Research Dac7 (no reviews that I know of but I respect company), Weiss Dac, et al. I am trying to make sense of all this. I like the idea of getting an external dac rather than a higher end CD/DVD player for various reasons--both cost and flexibility. I know the Benchmark is by far the cheapest and can be auditioned in home easily for 30 days, which is great. I might be able to arrange a loaner in a month or so of an ARC unit, tho no guarantees. The ARC is a good bit less than the Berkeley Alpha Dac and the Weiss, but I have no clue how it stacks up. Anyone have some insight as to what the current state of the art is without blowing the budget completely on dcs current gear?

Thanks!