@swvaaudiofan , I, too, have a Doge 7 tube DAC (the special edition version with tubed XLR outs) on my list. I think they are built to order at this point, though (last I checked was a couple of months ago).
I don’t have any real-world experience with it, but it definitely ticks the boxes, as the saying goes..
I run multiple players, so I could certainly use it somewhere.
Yamaha is one of those companies that makes total crap (entry level stuff), but their high end stuff is pretty darned good. And I have/and have had some pretty nice players before. JM2CW.
Most of the "boutique" or smaller brands I have tried all have their little idiosyncracies or down-right design flaws. And that includes Esoteric, Classe, Rega, AMR (I didn’t own that one, but a friend lent it to me to try out), etc...Good players? Sure, when they feel like working. ;)
I got fed up (read: pissed off ) recently with a very expensive player and checked out the Yamaha one I was talking about earlier. Pleasantly surprised with the build quality and the sound quality (I think it’s around 35 lbs). NOT JUNK. If it was, I would say so. Is it perfect? No....I wouldn’t say that either, but it’s not crap, for sure. :) Good luck.