Turntables_Amps_Receivers...wtf

[astb41]

Alright. So I've spun my head with enough info that I'm probably more confused now than I was before. I'm looking for the simplest answer here if anyone can help out!

I recently bought a turntable..Pro-ject debut iii matte black..followed that up with a philips AH 7861 receiver...and then finished with Klipsch Heresy ii's. I just moved into a new place so my setup was without the correct furniture. I finally got the furniture piece I needed for the whole setup and it's just not visually what my wife would like in our living room haha.

The first option I could think of to simplify the bulkiness was to switch out the receiver for an amp or tube amp or whatever small box amp I've seen in countless pictures across the internet. Knowing nothing about these amps and how they work, I figured they basically do the same thing a receiver does because in almost all of the pics I've seen them, I don't see them hooked to a receiver. So my detective skills lead me to believe I could hook the turntable to a small amp or pre-amp or tube amp or phono amp or whatever it's called and then have the speakers connect to that and everything is fine!

When I looked more into these amps I can't tell if I still need the receiver or not for everything to work! Aside from being able to tell what amp is better than other amps, I like the look of the tube amps from an aesthetic/size perspective (more important to the wife than me).

So my basic question is this...can I purchase a monoprice tube amp to connect the speakers and turntable to without the use/need of a receiver and without compromising sound?? Cause I love what I'm hearing in my current setup I feel like I haven't been able to find a clear answer in my research. thanks, sorry if this is ridiculous.