"Best" DAC for a grand or less

I wandered into a couple hi-fi shops in my area (San Diego). One of them, Stereo Design, is almost completely analog. Vandersteen and Electrocompaniet equipment dominates their space. The Music Hall DAC is the only DAC they carry. Their claim is that they only carry what they personally think sounds best--that's their main criteria. Take that for whatever it's worth. The Music Hall is $600.00. I haven't heard it, but these guys love it.

I'm not going to say "it's the best for a grand or less" - and a certain someone in this thread will cringe (KB, I never did get rid of the thing) - but...

The little MF V-DAC I purchased some time ago is still doing it's job in my system, and doing it well, and for $220 (used). I know, I know, it's a repackaged version of a slightly more expensive MF DAC, but it made my Squeezebox open up, big time. And the fact that HiFi Critic rated it higher than five other far more expensive and reputable DAC's - and found it to have the lowest jitter of any device they had ever tested - sold me on it.

"The Music Hall DAC is the only DAC they carry."
The Music Hall may be a great choice, but Stereo Designs in San Diego also carries the Rega DAC and the Ayre Acoustics QB-9 (which I bought!).

Vicdamone's comments, incl. referencing the expertise of Gordon Rankin's Wavelength Audio, are IMO right on the mark.

BTW, the Wavelength Audio Proton at $900 is the only DAC under $1000 currently listed as "recommended hardware" by Computer Audiophile, and would give you access to Wavelength Audio's very musical asynchronous mode solutions.

Good luck, and please let us know about your results.

I know I asked for a usb port, but at the moment I will not be using it . I will have hooked up to my 2 channel stereo , not a computer.USB is for possible future use.

Sandstone, please tell us you had a chance to compared the Rega and the QB-9.