OP
As others have indicated, your problem is your lousy Marantz CD player. A new DAC will make an enormous improvement. You may want to consider a new CDP that allows for digital inputs-essentially these are DACs that spin CDs.. Then you can upgrade the transport at the same time and ditch the Marantz and not have another box and cabling issues.
OP indicated that he uses digital to explore new artists. Streaming would probably fit his needs better, since most services offer huge catalogs and also suggest new artists based on your previous selections. I would also consider a DAC streamer and keep the Marantz for CD transport
As others have indicated, your problem is your lousy Marantz CD player. A new DAC will make an enormous improvement. You may want to consider a new CDP that allows for digital inputs-essentially these are DACs that spin CDs.. Then you can upgrade the transport at the same time and ditch the Marantz and not have another box and cabling issues.
OP indicated that he uses digital to explore new artists. Streaming would probably fit his needs better, since most services offer huge catalogs and also suggest new artists based on your previous selections. I would also consider a DAC streamer and keep the Marantz for CD transport