I'm not quite clear on what you mean by "competent signal paths and DACs"...
Do you mean that the right sounds come out of the correct channels?
Or are you suggesting that they carefully followed engineering best practices when laying out signal paths?
(If so, are you basing that claim on a careful analysis of their designs, or merely on what they claim in their product brochure?)
Or do you mean that it has good specifications? (If so which ones?)
And do you have a personal preference for the brand and type of DAC they chose?
(If so... do you have some specific reason for preferring that one?)
Or do you mean that it actually sounds good?
(And, if so, have you heard it, or is that claim based on the specs, or are you taking someone else's word for it?)
Not everybody has the same priorities.
For example, if you want to see truly impressive industrial design, check out some Bose products.
Most Bose products are intuitive, simple to operate, and quite reliable.
(Every Bose product I've ever owned or tried out did exactly what I expected it to do...)
Often Bose products are quite literally "textbook examples" of "competent design" and even "great design".
They also tend to be somewhat expensive.
And, by the way, they tend to sound "OK", but almost never sound especially good.
(That's not a knock... getting the best possible sound quality is simply not a priority for their target market.)