Please help for performance with low cash......

For reasons beyond my control I am for lack of better word "poor" and I want to get the best CD play as possible for the money.....$300 or less. As I see it I have a few options but need to know the best one from you more experienced folks.

1) I could buy a used higher quality DVD/CD or a stand alone CD player (wich is another box on the rack and WAF ISSUES) and ALSO be at the mercy of an aged unit.

2) I could have my Samsung HD841 moddified, but the price goes from $150.00 to upwards of 1k and I am not sure exactly who does the best mod's, or how well the mods will perform when done.

3) I can buy a DAC and use my Rotel Processor feature wich will allow a 2 channel bypass of everything except the volume control.

I would like to know what opinions you have on best choice out of these options, the only other idea I have is to do a DIY upgrade to the Sammy's power supply, and dampen it a bit (wich is only a partial mod that I could do myself) and use an external DAC on top of it.

I know none of these options are gonna be the best performance out there, but what out of these is the BEST option I have being in my position?

thaks again for helping me out..Chad