Ia a good amp more important than a good DAC?

Very interesting to hear your responses so far guys - thankyou. To Bob Reynolds . yes, simply because of price, though apparently it is a very good player though it is the only one I have had so can't really compare.

To Jax 2 - agree with you but I can't get the best NOW, I blew all my money on hookers. Should be the subject of a new thread - "Should I blow a lot of money on hookers now, or should I get the system first?"
Damn, i'm never going to be able to afford that cheap amp.

Thanks a lot for getting involved in my question guys. I am learning a lot but typical of this hobby I seem to have moved one step forwards but two steps back regarding decision making, but I am loving the debate.

Sorry, I am a beginner and never thought to mention my speakers in the question, - they are Magnepan 1.6s and a REL Britannia B3 subwoofer and I use this for music only. I have another pair of speakers that are much more sensitive , or easy to drive - Dali Ikon 7s. These are quite nice and detailed, a "clean" sounding speaker but to me don't have the "big" sound of the Maggies or the "realistic" sound of the Magnepans. They are also pretty "shrill" and sore on the ears as far as the highs go. My musical tastes range from Jazz/Bossanova to rock to electronic, a bit of everything.
Hope that is enough info.

Well guys, I have experimented a bit since posting the question that has created a good little debate and this is my take so far. Today I swapped out the Cambridge 840 c (CD player) that costs around $1,400 for one twice the price, a Bryston BCD1. Both of these players have glowing reviews. The Bryston came out better BUT I had to listen hard and keep swapping the interconnects to make that decision. What this tells me is the Cambridge seems to be a really great player for the price. They really were very close. As far as the amps go I have been swapping the Pass Labs 250.5 back and forth with the NaimNait5i which costs a fraction of the price. The Pass came out tops but I think it may be because of the high current and extra power that Maggies need but the Naim (50w) was/is very impressive too. Regarding the speakers, I really think these are the most important thing, amp next then source, but what was making a bigger difference than all of these was room treatment - massive variation in sound depending on what I damped and where. With all the different configurations of the gear I was happy with the sound after I got the room treatment under control but until I fixed the room it all sounded miserable, really miserable. So, in a nutshell, I don't think you have to spend an arm and a leg to get great sound. There is gear out there that can take you almost there for a fraction of the price, but regarding the difference between the amps and the players I would have to say that the amp made the biggest difference.....with my set-up, that is.

Thanks for the continued input guys, this site is great and I am loving being able to gather all the good info, juggle it around and finally make decisions.

Yes, this room treatment thing has me wondering how many people out there that have good systems but are unfortunate enough not to be able to set up where they like at home. I have moved mine from a room with very low ceilings to a standard height room to one with very high vaulted ceilings and all left their own big mark on the sound. Unfortunately for me the one with the best acoustics (standard 8' ceilings) isn't going to work because of human traffic, but it created a feeling of "big" sound compared to the larger room with 16' ceilings where the system finally ended up. It just shows though that a while back I read a post from a guy using a similar set-up as me and when he moved his into a room with high vaulted ceilings he said only then his speakers really came to life.
After comparing the two sources my mind is at rest that I don't need to go any further with that given the minute difference between the two, however, with speakers I will probably get curious, but for now I will just dial in what I have and start enjoying it.....and all the forum threads.
Thanks guys