My #@%$ Cat Destroyed My ARC REF 5SE. Soliciting Suggestions.


(Public service announcement-keep your pets away from your audio equipment)

I love my cat. But not as much as I once did :-)
The short story is cat pee corroded the main board to my ARC REF 5SE. 

Homeowners insurance doesn't cover repair or replacement because owning a pet means you assume liability/responsibility. Ironically, or strangely enough, If my neighbor's cat or dog did this, I could collect.

My options-
Repair it. Fixing it will cost 7K. The main board alone is 6K.
Buy a pre-owned replacement at close to similar price. And if I go pre-owned, what's the market on a REF 5SE with a destroyed main board.
Go in a different direction.

What would you do?

TIA,
David
128x128wharfy
That is very bad luck. Repair should be possible though, but finding the right person to do it will be difficult. Have you considered replacing it, even temporarily, with something different while waiting for a used one at the right price.

I use a DIY valve preamp which I quickly threw together to see if it was what I hoped it would be, intending to do a more serious build when time allowed. This pre with only mediocre parts outperformed my expectations but from long storage had developed a hum.

Not having the time to rebuild the way I would like I chose, after much research, a unit from Ed Schilling of the Hornshoppe called 'The Truth'  It is solid state, nothing to look at and has no gain, but is simply amazing and I doubt now if I will bother to rebuild my valve amp. Retail about $1300 because I asked for upgraded OCC input wiring and a remote.

A long and entertaining review of this by Arthur Salvatore:http://www.high-endaudio.com/RC-Linestages.html
One of our cats jumped up on turntable and lashed out at the air-arm ruining My VdH EMT cartridge. I went digital (for a while).
Today a new turntable and a riaa recomended by Fremer: Van den Hul "The Grail" that can compete with the very best. I got mine at usd 3500,- lightly used in the UK. They come very rarely for sale, so people must be very satisfied
If only. This may be the most dispiriting thread I've seen out here. You've got to be a miserable, lonely person to ridicule a fellow audiophile and troll/hate on his feline companion. There are some wonderful folks out here but this place needs a much stronger sense of community and some improved manners.   
I totally agree with you. The nature of forums I suppose.