Best DAC under 2k US ?

There's also HEGEL's HD20, with the (to my mind) very worthwhile feature:

... The HD20 has a high performance digital pre amplifier, fully capable of driving a high end power amplifier.

http://www.hegel.com/hd20.htm

Price in Scandinavia is roughly $1700, so I'm assuming it won't (severely) exceed $2k in the US.

(ultraaudio.com's review of my other recommendation above, the NuForce DAC-9 - also with build-in preamp, though not with the asynchronous 192k USB input that's now available:

http://www.ultraaudio.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=205:nuforce-dac-9-digital-to-analog-converter&catid=37:full-length-reviews&Itemid=2)

"Even with the MK2 upgrade, the DAC doesn't sound that great unless you also own the Transport."-Mcondon.

How exactly are the ones and zeros delivered from the PW Transport so special that other transports fail in making the PW Dac sound good? I'm not saying that the PW Transport is not good, in fact I'm sure it's very nice. But why does the dac sound so-so with other transports and so special with the PW? I'm just not buying it.

It's the i2s connection and digital lens or whatever it's called. Eliminates the Spdif connection and provides a buffer to eliminte clicking issues.

I know several people who have stopped using the i2s buss via HDMI because they liked the XLR digital connection better between the two. The
PWT is a very nice transport. I use one. Is it the best available? No. But it does have some nice features that other CD transports do not have. As always there are tradeoffs.

X2 on the Burson DA-160. It does have nice features and is often compared to 2k+ amps. It can be found for around 1k.