Will a $700 turntable outperform a CD player?

No

The sol looks badass. I have a killer analog setup and an amazing digital side as well. Analog always wins. But digital is very close, and way easy. Analog will cost you more but you will be rewarded. Also, I have the gungnir MB in my bedroom setup and although this is an amazing DAC, it definitely sounds digital and almost surgical. The warmth of analog will lure you in vs that particular DAC. 

I tell people who want to get into vinyl that the fun ship has sailed. I loved picking up great old lps for 1-5$, or snagging a whole collection once in a while.  The world supply of original-pressing vinyl (not fancy, even thin, flexy mass-market lps from the 70s are amazing) has been bought up by collectors. The remainder sell for stupid prices. Reissues are typically poorly pressed from a 16-bit, 44kHz file. Noisy as hell and poorly manufactured. And they cost 35$ each. 

CDs now occupy that junk space formerly held by vinyl. You can get great stuff for 1-5$, or classical boxes, 50 for 50$. 

If you have a stack of records, might be a different story. 

Your Gungnir sounds good I'll bet. I'd stick with that and maybe get better speakers. 

I’ve been wondering the same thing as OP. I’ve never had a turntable and feel like I’m missing out on something (based solely on the fanatical adulation of the vinyl fanboys). I’ve actually never even heard a “proper” record playing setup. I often wonder what it would cost to better my digital sources. After carefully factoring in my complete lack of a record collection, my zero experience with turntable setup, a major case of OCD regarding any tics or pops, a preamp with unity gain, and the fact I’ve lately gotten so lazy I sometimes stream albums I both have on CD and have already ripped - I decide it would be too much hassle. At least this way I save my money for other equipment or whisk(e)y.
Is ignorance really bliss?

As someone who has a SL-1200 MK2, and a Cambridge Audio CXC running into a Topping D90, I enjoy them both but have more of a fondness for the SL-1200.  I have done a lot of KAB upgrades and have a Hana SL cartridge on it, and it sounds very good to me; it keeps excellent speed and I never have the feeling I'm going to break it like I have with other TT's.  I think the cartridge makes the biggest difference.  Streaming Tidal still edges it out IMHO in detail and dynamics, but there are times where I will stream for weeks and then pull out record after record after record and be quite happy.  It all depends on your preferences, but I think you'd end up spending quite a bit more money and time with vinyl than you would with the Cambridge and a really good DAC - tt, cartridge, phono preamp, record cleaner (if you go that route), and then the vinyl itself.  If you're a thrift store shopper you can pick up CD's for next to nothing, but the vinyl that's out there is usually quite picked over.  I've found that my Cambridge CXC is very particular about what I feed it, in that any disc that is slightly scratched will behave badly in it - YMMV, maybe it's just my machine.  But I think you can't beat the noise level while steaming or playing a CD.