To my ears, even a $1200 table w a $400 stylus surpasses a $5500 cd player in the form of more detail, accuracy of timbre and better tonality balance. Player dynamics has more to do with after the source.
As far as "clicks and pops", unless there is damage to a record, I hear no clicks and pops during playback. Even a cheap record cleaner goes a long way for better vinyl reproduction.