[phildawson]

I'm totally confused on which to go for, all these seem like awesome choices for the same price range.
 
It'll be paired with a lovely new GS-X

 
DACs I'm considering:
Lavry DA11 (~£1200)
Benchmark DAC1 USB (~£1200, £1000 on sale)
Stello DA220 (Can't find a UK price but assume roughly a grand converted)
 
Stello DA100 Signature (~£750)
Apogee MiniDac (~£750)
 
Other DACs I know about recommended to me:
Lavry DA10 (~£1000) - No USB connection tho >_<
Belcanto DAC-3 (£1,500+)
DacMagic (£200)
cec da53 (£? I know nothing about this)
aqvox USB 2 D/A MKII (£? I know nothing about this)
 
Any experiences or recommendations on which to go for? Or does anyone have other DACs to recommend in the thousand pound bracket?
 
Edit: Forgot to say it needs USB input, balanced output

 

[giovanni]

I would just make sure you can home audition whatever you go for.  All the ones you mention are unlikely to produce decent improvements if at all.  But give your own ears a chance to make a wise decision since a lot depends on your other equipment.

 

[zenpunk]

 

[size=14pt] W4S DAC-1, selling for just under a grand[/size]

 

[reod]

Not particularly a fan of the benchmark (from my auditions of them). I would check out the recently announced balanced havana: http://dhost.info/mhdtlab/havana%20balanced.htm
 
I've previously owned a Paradisea 3 and have a friend with the single ended Havana. Both sound great, with the bonus of allowing you to swap out tubes to find the sound that best fits you.
 
The W4S also looks intriguing as zenpunk mentioned.

 

[simmo]

Having owned both the stello and the benchmark, I would really recommend the stello. I quickly sold my benchmark after doing a comparison with my friends stello. The benchmark sounds flat and lifeless compared to the stello, whilst the stello sounds really open and airy with a much better soundstage