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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
jnovak's avatar
jnovak
406 posts
 
If your amp was made by Pass Labs, you 'd be in luck. They would have repaired it for next to nothing. They have an insanely liberal and cheap repair policy.

I had a beloved cat who used one row of my LP to sharpen his claws. I loved her so much I didn't mind the spine damage she did. The Lp's themselves were untouched. Pee is another story. Joe 
ohlala
1,234 posts
 
I sympathize. The only thing worse is if it happens again:

https://radiodustcovers.com/index.html

I am very happy with the covers they made for me.
stevea11757's avatar
stevea11757
126 posts
 
I don't know where you are located, but I had Ben from High End Audio Repair  in Brooklyn NY http://highendaudiorepair.com/ replace output caps that were damaged in shipping by careless UPS. He is a authorised ARC repair shop and a dog lover (so I hope he can relate). It can not hurt to at least contact him. Sometimes these shops have units and or parts from pieces that the previous owners abandoned (kind of a long shot with a 5se) but you never know.

His price was more than reasonable in my estimation and turned the job around (after a shipping delay from ARC) and I have been enjoying it ever since.
jayctoy's avatar
jayctoy
3,779 posts
 
 
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