Upgrade my CD player or futile effort?

I had an Ares II and was happy with that but dove a little deeper and got the Pontus II; didn't see what your budget was (will assume you're "dipping your toe in"), so there's a lot of people here that will offer more expensive and better quality options here than what I'm suggesting.  There's a $1000 jump from the Ares II to the Pontus II but I felt it was worth it, but I stream heavily and use my CD transport when the mood strikes me (Cambridge Audio CXC V2; had the Audiolab one but preferred the CXC) .  I would second the suggestion that you get a DAC that works for you feature-wise and hook up your Marantz to that first - only change one thing at a time, and it might actually be the DAC in it that's poochy.  There's a bunch of good DACs out there for whatever price point you're at so it's unlikely you're going to get a dog.  Any Denafrips DAC are going to be the ones with the least B&W so no bluetooth, remote, or wireless capability, and if you buy directly from Vinshine there's no return policy if you don't like it.  I've had a number of Topping products and they've all measured well, were packed full of features and sounded good but never moved me enough to keep them.  I hear many raves for the Jay's Audio transport but we're talking about $2400 and it's a top loader so that has to be accommodated.  Alternative: the Bluesound products have an OK DAC built into them and allow you to get into streaming at a low cost; requires you install their BluOS software which works very well (I think) on either your smartphone or computer - no fees or subscription needed.  You can stream internet radio for free or play any flac files through it, and you can always bypass the DAC in it if you get a better one and use it only as a streamer.