My Music Hall CD 25 just died

Used Rega Apollo R, the shoebox one. Very overlooked piece. Very good player, astonishingly good transport.

The Mac Mini is a good suggestion, however..... you will then need pieces to run it properly. Ipad or something to run it like a wireless keyboard and monitor, external HD for backup. If it's a wireless keyboard then a wireless mouse. It does go on.

Agree with the computer path, especially when you're talking $500.

Rusty -

keep us posted on which player you buy next.

Correct me if I am wrong lads ... but, a mac mini, back-up drive, standalone DAC, front end like an iPad ... aren't we past the $1k point and actually close to $1.5k by now. And you have to buy new as used pc equipment is a crap shoot and a half.

Rich

If you have any interest in a computer based system but don't want to deal with the complexity immediately a good path might be to get a decent DAC in the $300 range and pick up a used CD or DVD player to use as a transport.

There are always high-quality players from Pioneer, Sony,, Marantz, Arcam and others for sale here at a fraction of their original price.

Going for a DAC now means you don't have to start over completely when your transport fails, as they all eventually do, and gives you the flexibility to deal with multiple sources in the future.