i too am a vinyl guy. My listening priorities are Vinyl, Qobuz streaming, then CD’s. I have the Marantz CD6007. It is the weakest link in my system, but don’t care (CD’s being by far my lowest priority).
The Marantz does sound SIGNIFICANTLY better with an external DAC. I have a Chord Qutest. I chose it over the Denafrips as space in my rack is at a premium, but either would be solid choices.
Then I recommend you get a streamer. I went with the Aurender N150, but there are several great choices out there. Good luck.