Craig,
You could try things in steps and see what you think of the sound for yourself. If you like what you're hearing with what you already have, you don't necessarily need to go down a rabbit hole.
First, get some Blue Jeans cables that are of a length that would allow you to connect your turntable to the Marantz. If you get a phono pre you're going to need another set of cables anyways. If it sounds good to you, you're done.
If you'd like to take it to the next level, then get a phono preamp and try it in place of the phono stage in the Marantz. If it sounds good to you, you're done.
If you want to bypass the Marantz and have a cleaner route (less distortion from the Marantz) from the turntable to your speakers, then your next step is to get a 2 channel line stage or preamp, preferably one with home theater bypass so that you can share your front speakers and amp.
A line stage doesn't have a phono stage and would be all you need if you've already bought a separate phono preamp. A two channel preamp will typically include a phono stage. Depending on the quality of the preamp, the included phono stage may be pretty decent.
You could try things in steps and see what you think of the sound for yourself. If you like what you're hearing with what you already have, you don't necessarily need to go down a rabbit hole.
First, get some Blue Jeans cables that are of a length that would allow you to connect your turntable to the Marantz. If you get a phono pre you're going to need another set of cables anyways. If it sounds good to you, you're done.
If you'd like to take it to the next level, then get a phono preamp and try it in place of the phono stage in the Marantz. If it sounds good to you, you're done.
If you want to bypass the Marantz and have a cleaner route (less distortion from the Marantz) from the turntable to your speakers, then your next step is to get a 2 channel line stage or preamp, preferably one with home theater bypass so that you can share your front speakers and amp.
A line stage doesn't have a phono stage and would be all you need if you've already bought a separate phono preamp. A two channel preamp will typically include a phono stage. Depending on the quality of the preamp, the included phono stage may be pretty decent.