Outboard Dac for Bluesound Nano

Bump your budget up to $2,000 and get a Denafrips Pontus 15th DAC, which is the equivalent of a Venus 12th DAC. It is one of the most enjoyable DACs anywhere under $3,000

I would check out the Heed Abacus. Not popular around here, but very musical and satisfying. Check out the reviews. Gene Rubin is a dealer and his service is outstanding. If you have a problem he’s back to you within the hour.  He also sells Belles, I believe, so he can advise you as to whether they would work well together.  

I have the Bluesound N130 with a linear power supply fed by an AQ power cable.  Running an AQ coax digital cable to a Chord Qutest DAC and love it.

If you can live without resolution over 24/96, I couldn’t recommend the Border Patrol DAC more highly. I’ve heard dozens of high-res DACs over the years and none has made me want to give up the BP. It will be the one piece in my system that will be there until it breaks or I die. Fits right in your budget, too. Built like a tank and completely non-fatiguing...as analogue as I’ve heard digital sound. 

BTW, I have the same integrated and will soon have the VLR-CTs (I had a pair of 1ci's...moving into a smaller space), so I can vouch for the system synergy as well. 

 I am impressed with the dac in the Nano, but I consider it the weak link in my system.  Your thoughts?

op i do not see your nano with s booster as the weak link in your setup (i think it fits right in very nicely) although i would say that with your belles amp the sound if it all may be slightly on the clear/clean/crisp school of sound, and maybe a touch thin or shrill on some poor recordings

you could move to a smoother rounder warmer sounding dac at the expense of losing some sense of transparency speed and impact ... the laiv, mhdt, audio note, and lower denafrips dacs would bring this change in presentation

you didn’t ask this question, but looking at your system, if it were me i would add a modern rel sub (or better yet, two) to make it sing sing sing :)