Actually, I ended up purchasing new A5+ speakers to replace the HD3 model. I also ended up going with the Chord Qutest. Went with what I knew, even if it was over my budget. But I keep hearing great things about the model you recommended, which gets me curious! Thanks for the advice.
Sounds interesting… is there a huge difference between using the chord dac and using only the internal dac of the loudspeakers?
I‘m using the kef ls50 wii but didn‘t tried right now the combination of kef and the rme dac.
I love the Chord DAC and it decodes at a higher resolution than the Audioengines so I connect to the speakers by RCAs and bypass the internal DAC.
I also have this KEFs but haven’t felt the need to bypass their internal DAC.
I would suggest an Audio Exklusiv P0.8
It has a discrete single ended class A output. For 600€ you get awesone performance. For twice the price you can choose the version with external power supply.
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Costing $720 at Amazon this little beauty from China certainly fits the bill. I have the more expensive SMSL VMV D1, which sounds fantastic and is built like a tank. The D1se, like the D1, uses the excellent ES9038PRO D/A chip and has a lot host of very nice features. At least worth a look.
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@Stuart_Rosen,
I owned the Schiit Bifrost a while ago. I was good, but you really need to move up the line to get into high fidelity.
The Gungnir or Yggy would be my choices, though out of your budget.
A used Ayre Codex is under $1K and compares very well with the Gungnir and Yggy. It definitely beats the Bifrost by miles.
Bob
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The Bifrost 2 is a wonderful DAC. I like it better than the Gungnir….
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Aries II ladder DAC from Denafrips. From Singapore has got to be the audio find in a decade for me. Roon from my Mac Mini via USB>Denafrips Aries II DAC>Prima Luna EVO 300 integrated. Speakers upgraded Klipsch Fortes (cir 1987). Sounds like a $1800.00 DAC, but the price per performance is unbeatable.Highly Recommended 
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Just adding more options, what about an Audio-gd R1? It is an R2R dac, as some other ones mentioned in this thread. For what I heard (with my ears), Audio-gd products have very good value for money. You can read some bad things about this brand in some forums, but very nice things from people owning it (including myself).
I have one of their all in one dac+headphones amp based on Sabre ES9038Pro (D28) and another one based on R2R technology (R27). The R2R sounds much more natural to my ears, that’s why I think that the R1 could be a good option, under 1000 usd.
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RME is worth the extra money but look into Topping and Gustard X16. Read reviews on Audio Science Review to make the best choice for you.
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Thanks for all the great suggestions. I decided to bust my own budget and go with the Chord Qutest. But you all gave me a bunch of great alternatives to think about. I previously owned the Topping D90 and can certainly attest to that brand.
Thread already finished, but one subjektive meaning:
Audio Science can be a good starting point, but if you’ll believe here only the measurements, than it can be, that you’ll lost something in hearing your music…
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Nobody is stopping you from enjoying distortion.
That’s what I’ve meant 
Interpretation of measurements isn’t as easy as many people are thinking.
But I’ll stop here, because otherwise we’ve here an endless end senseless discussion.
I’m late to this thread, but I actually had (well, still have) a Bifrost 2 and decided to move up to a Chord Qutest as well. I really (REALLY) liked the Schiit, but I felt it lacked a bit in separation and detail retrieval. The Qutest fixed that. Very pleased with what I have now; I’m sure you will be too.
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That’s what I’m looking for in my DAC (separation/detail), and it’s what I’ve gotten from my Hugo TT2, so this is all great news for me. I set this up tomorrow in my office - can’t wait!
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It will be interesting to hear how that works out with the rest of your system… Are you playing local files or streaming from somewhere?
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98% streaming; 2% local files.
It’s not really much of a system - this is for my office, so I have Audioengine 5+ speakers and the Qutest and my work MacBook. I’m just so taken with what the TT2 has done across my home systems (headphone amp; feeding tube amp; feeding desktop speakers; feeding preamp/main system) that I have to see what it’ll do for me in a more modest environment.
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Yes, everyone gets overly excited about the issue. I like the most modern Class D but that doesn’t stop me from enjoying vintage tube equipment.
Rasperry Pi with an Audio Hat. that’s what I use, comparable to a NZD $1000 DAC at around NZD$150 price point.
There’s a whole world of audio hats out there too, surely one that suits everyone.