Clarity (no smearing, no muffled sound) without adding any strange artifacts to the sound, along with maintaining correct timbre and tone.
I found all inexpensive ICs and SCs to not be as clear and open as I'd prefer. And all expensive (for me, up to $2k) ones to excel in one area (clarity, or floating soundstage, etc.), but falter in another (bloated, strange harmonics, unnatural timbre, etc.), to the point of my not being able to overlook the faults.
It was a nightmare process for me, but I finally did stumble upon ICs and SCs which satisfied my requirements.
I found all inexpensive ICs and SCs to not be as clear and open as I'd prefer. And all expensive (for me, up to $2k) ones to excel in one area (clarity, or floating soundstage, etc.), but falter in another (bloated, strange harmonics, unnatural timbre, etc.), to the point of my not being able to overlook the faults.
It was a nightmare process for me, but I finally did stumble upon ICs and SCs which satisfied my requirements.