Best dac under $2500 - comparing build quality and technologies


I have been in the  Audio field for over 4 decades and have owned some pretty exclusive audio gear 
I was listening to a 3 years old R2R dac the R7 from AudioGD a 20 year old company which won several awards  which is not known much in the U.S yet  ,This New R8-MK2 is better still.
it is  very well built using 3 R core transformers rarely seen unless spending $$. Their latest and best value is the New R8 mk2 dac. This dac just came out late April 2021 ,over a year went into the redesign the Owner stated this unit has several advancements vs previous designs , and runs much cooler for less money then  the previous R7 but better ,their is also a mk2 R7 also as well as a Flagship R7 HE with power regeneration,which I wanted but could not afford .The dynamics and realism is what sets this apart it’s massive power supplies and over 130k uf 
of capacitance is more then most amps has a lot to do with it I will be getting my dac next week and put side by side with  very well know competitors  it was noticeable better  in several areas , and it has 7 sonic adjustments all FPGA based 
4- non over sampling ,including a vinyl mode, and 3 over sampling  other dacs just a minor OS option 
you literally can Taylor the sound to your audio system .it weighs 26 lbs ,Underwood Wally is now the U.S distributor and service center  . I will give a full rundown once I have logged a week or two on it ,2 R- core transformers go to the pure class A  analog output section, the 3 rd transformer -digital is now fully servo controlled and runs much cooler and much better specifications . Check out link below.
http://www.audio-gd.com/R2R/R8mk2/R8mk2EN.htm
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If I buy the AudioGD Dac  what is my best connection method?

 

Currently I have my TV optical out to my streamer dac, there to my Musical Fidelity m9xi

My only sources are fire cube and a streamer (dac streamer) 

I was in same price range for a dac, but knew not being able to demo thought I would experiment and buy 2 dacs on different end of spectrum. I kept total for both around $2500. I bought 2 dacs I knew I could sell fast. I picked up a RME adi-2 with Teddy Pardo power supply and a MHDT Orchid thinking I would figure out If I prefer r2r or delta sigma sell both and pick a $2500 either r2r or delta. I did this a year ago and still have both and haven’t moved on yet.  I really enjoy flipping between the 2 on the Auralic app, R2R on usb rme digital cable.  If I want a more analog sound orchid if I want clear as a bell, fast presentation RME for complex music. I tend to use the no over sampling filter more but still enjoy the sharp filter and others also at low volume the loudness button is nice. On the RME I like the NOS filter on the CJ amp and sharp on Don Sachs amp. RME also sounds great as a preamp.

I would think Using the word endgame would be to indicate a personal financial status… and not having an interest in continuous upgrading.