Best DAC under 2k US ?

wow!...not sure where Mcondon is coming from with his comments. i purchased the PWT/PWD at release back in august of 2009. have the semi-recent MKII upgrade as well.

"pretty mediocre"??. i've had the pleasure of comparing it to many nice DAC's in the past three years (some costing much more). almost every person who took part in these comparisons now owns a PWD and that says it all. lots of mediocre gear out there but the PWD isn't on that list imho.

"can't give them away" is also a stretch. a good friend had to sell his entire set-up due to unemployment and his PWD literally sold overnight....for $1500. not bad for digital gear....and considering many paid well south of $3000 for the PWD's new (got mine at 2k each using the trade in option offered at release.

too each his own but a few of your comments make it seem like you have a axe to grind regarding the PWD.

I also am very pleased with both the PWD I and even more so with the PWD ll. I do like it with the PWT best, but as a Bridge owner, I listen with the Bridge 99% of the time. It sounds great and the latest software that has been available for several months is very dependable and robust.

I won't be leaving the PWD ll world anytime soon. Well maybe when there is a PWD lll.

There's also HEGEL's HD20, with the (to my mind) very worthwhile feature:

... The HD20 has a high performance digital pre amplifier, fully capable of driving a high end power amplifier.

http://www.hegel.com/hd20.htm

Price in Scandinavia is roughly $1700, so I'm assuming it won't (severely) exceed $2k in the US.

(ultraaudio.com's review of my other recommendation above, the NuForce DAC-9 - also with build-in preamp, though not with the asynchronous 192k USB input that's now available:

http://www.ultraaudio.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=205:nuforce-dac-9-digital-to-analog-converter&catid=37:full-length-reviews&Itemid=2)

"Even with the MK2 upgrade, the DAC doesn't sound that great unless you also own the Transport."-Mcondon.

How exactly are the ones and zeros delivered from the PW Transport so special that other transports fail in making the PW Dac sound good? I'm not saying that the PW Transport is not good, in fact I'm sure it's very nice. But why does the dac sound so-so with other transports and so special with the PW? I'm just not buying it.

It's the i2s connection and digital lens or whatever it's called. Eliminates the Spdif connection and provides a buffer to eliminte clicking issues.