What would you do???

I would go with the Audio Aero Capitole, as it is one of the very best Redbook players I have ever heard. This will allow you to add a preamp at some point in the future should you see the need, although several Capitole owners I know run direct into their amps.

My two cents worth anyway.
Good Luck!

Ditto Kurt's recommendation on the Audio Aero.

Watch out for those reviews. I listened to a Marantz and an Arcam player (both raved about in the reviews). I compared them directly to the Meridian 588 and there was NO comparison. The Meridian was in a whole other league. The Audio Aero should trounce the Marantz in Redbook and the setup should sound much better going direct as long as the player has enough gain. However, I preferred going through a pre-amp vs going straight through my player which is supposed to have enough gain to go straight to the amp. Of course, it helps when you a have a great pre-amp to go through (the LS17 is good, but far from great).

I third the AA Capitole MKII recommendation. And I'm an owner of the fabulous player! Marantz???? Not even in the same league .......... by really far too!

Audio Aero. No competition. The latest version has analog passthru so you can run your tuner through it, too, I run my DVD player through my Capitole via coax and Satellite with toslink. This is my preamp.