Any superb balanced dacs up to $2,500 used??


I have not posted in a long while, however am testing the waters on dac opinions. Am currently using a Vecteur L-4 cd player full range, that also happens to make a very good transport- preamp is modded Sonic Frontiers Line 3 (fully balanced). What are the some current favorite dacs out there under $2,500 used? (tube or non-tube)- caveat- must have balanced output, and preferably also a true balanced design.

I have owned Emm Labs gear; AA Capitole (both versions); Sim Audio Eclipse (still miss that one- superb for a one-box and IMO much better than the Capitoles); Spectral 3000/Audio Note 3.1x Balanced dac (I loved that combo); etc. But now, I need a more cost-effective solution- yet would like to border on a superb setup once again, hence the idea being a good deal on a used top-performer dac.

The Audiomeca Enkianthus X seems to be ~ $3k asking used, and I am sure could be had for around $2.5k; the Electro ECD-1 is cheaper (~ $1.2k used)but I'm not sure how good it is compared to the others. One consideration is a locally available Sonic Frontiers Processor 3 @ ~ $2.5k used, which I will be auditioning this weekend, along with a rather elusive Forsell Ref dac (but it's more $$). I would pick up an Audiomat Maestro in a second, but they are very elusive and probably not that cheap used. I like insane build quality; heavy duty power supplies, etc., so please no lightweight contenders! If this doesn't work out, I will probably end up going back to the best one-boxer I can find for ~ $3,500 used (most likely the Eclipse).
sutts
Sutts,
Given what you said you HAVE owned, (some of the best stuff around) it looks like you're going backwards again. Maybe there's something else wrong in your system that you're blaming your CD player for?
SimAudio might give you detail and bass, but at the expense of harshness/digital sound that evetually wears on you and gives you a headache - typical EAD sound. It can't compete with EMM and A.A.
How about the old world champ........
Sonic Frontiers sfd2 ....pick up mark 1 or 2 versions then send it to Sonic for Mark3 24/96 upgrade. Run signal from D2d upsampler jitter reducer using ISe cable and you will not believe the quality for a price of about $2500. A KILLER
Dan
I've had Electro ECD-1, Bel Canto DAC2, Perpetual Tech P-3A, Birdland Odeon-lite, Audionote DAC4, Classe' DAC1, MSB Gold and others I wont mention in my system. IMO, the only ones that sound good stock are: ECD-1 and Birdland. Even of these, the ECD-1 is a bit warm-sounding and the Birdland has the highest highs rolled-off, but both of these impressed me right out of the box.
John, I hope all is well. I have an Audio Logic 24 mxl. It is tremendous. Try to listen to one if you can find one nearby. - Brooks (email me if you want more detail)