Mark Levinson 36 dac or Theta Gen V Best?

So,what kind of DAC should I be looking at?

I know they might be older designs but an 8 pound $1,000 dac of today can't sound like one of these older better built monsters that weigh almost 40lbs from the 90's can they? Do you really think a benchmark dac one or something around that would sound better? The only dac that I have heard is a proceed that I bought off ebay a couple of months ago and hated it right out of the box.My CD player sounded better without it!But,it was a cheap dac and should have knowned better.Any advice,I'm all ears.

Herman,I just checked out your system,very,very nice!Neat set ups like that makes this hobby fun.You got more money than me though!I'm looking,just like everyone on this site,for a system that sounds great without breaking the bank.Also,the folks next door have a barking dog and well,such people need to be punished from time to time.

dgarretson,so,does your sony sound better than the theta? Don't think a pd-75 elite could transport decent?

Dgarretson,
This is my stereo,please don't make fun of it but it really doesnt sound to bad.Almost all pioneer elite, receiver 49txi,m-91 amp,dv-ax10 dvd-a player,79txi dvd-a,sacd player,cd players,pd-75,pd-65,pdr-99,pdr-19rw,elite minidisc player,samsung 5000 blu-ray,hd hybred player.The story goes like this.Was really happy with the sound of my system intil the monster 50lb dv-ax10 dvd-a player came in the door.Somewhat close to your sony but not moded.After hearing that for a couple of weeks plain cd's suck!Sound is night and day,you already know this but would like to get everyday cd's sounding somewhat close to that.Am I crazy? I have come across some threads on the net that have said some dac's can get somewhat close to that ballpark.That I guess is what I'm shooting for.Just not sure how to go about it.For speakers,I'm running 4 B&W 802's matrix series 3,and a center matrix and some crappy bose 301's in the middle making 7 speakers.