What DAC should I buy?


I am in the process of turning my home theater into a dedicated 2 channel system. I am selling my Lexicon DC1 and negotiating on a Sonic Frontiers Line 1 preamp. I want an external DA converter I can use with my Monarchy Jitter box, and would like the DA converter to decode HDCD signals. I want to spend less than $1K (Used). Please recommend some DACs.

Thanks.
mdomnick
The MSB Nelson (and above)DAC's accept the balanced input that your Monarchy DIP provides. Stereophile loves this combo. The MSB DACs actually use a SEPERATE lower quality DAC for HDCD, and HDCD cannot be used with upsampling. I prefer upsampling to 24/132 to HDCD. If you want comparable quality in your HDCD, you'll need to look elsewhere.
Theta DSPro Basic IIIa with HDCD option installed is generally available used in your price range. I have the regular version of same w/o HDCD (paid $700 used) and run it with the Monarchy DIP 24/96 to good effect, but I have not tried the newer "upsampling" converters such as the MSB in my system (nor, of course, do I own any HDCD's). The Theta is a well-known, well-made, and highly-rated current-production model from a leading digital manufacturer that lists for around $2,800 new, but that seems to have fallen from favor price-wise on the used market because it lacks the latest buzzwords and has been around for a while, making it something of a deal. I have wondered how my unit would stack up against some of the newer models available for around $1,000 used (MSB, Bel Canto, Musical Fidelity, Perpetual Tech, etc.) but haven't been at all displeased with the sound I'm getting (with a Theta Pearl transport), so I've lacked motivation to check this question out for myself. Good luck with the search.
I am curious about Music Fidelity's new DAC also. Seems to have everything I want and then some, but its too new to get any end user feedback...if some one owns one, please let us know what ya think.