My Music Hall CD 25 just died

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.

What are the symptoms of not working. Is it not reading a disc and not powering up, or? Its a possibility that it can be an easy cheap fix but most likely its the laser. I am not to familiar with PC based audio so I will leave that up to another.

In answer to your questions:
(1) Definitely do NOT repair it.
(2) Buy something used (but not too old) on Audiogon.
(3) Buy a universal player for CD, SACD and DVD-Audio.
Enjoy the current formats until something better comes along, and it could be awhile.