Spending on dac vs amp

From a purely economic standpoint, a dac will likely depreciate in value faster than an amplifier due to the rapid advancements in digital technology. Something to consider if you plan on upgrading/reselling down the road. I wouldn't pour money into a dac until I had an amp that I liked and worked well with my speakers. My 2 cents FWIW...

You will get all manner of answers ranging from spend a majority of your budget on the source to the majority on your speakers and everything in between. My view is that buying equally capable components across the playback chain that are synergistic is the most important. No use spending huge $s on the source if you have crappy amp/speakers because you won't hear what your source is capable of until you upgrade the quality of the amplification or speakers and vice versa. This does not necessarily translate into a 50/50 recommendation but as a starting point, that would be my recommendation.

An integrated amp is a preamp $$$ and an amp $$$.
The preamp can be pretty simple, and an amp needs to make good power.
The difference between a equal price integrated amp and a DAC would be the integrated amp would sucl.. big time.
So I say spend it 90% on the integrated (from between the integrated and DAC only, not counting speakers)
And buy a used $250 DAC.
So for $8000. Spend $3,000 on speakers, $3,000 on an integrated amp, $250 on a used DAC, and $500 on a CD player, (or just buy a CD player like the Sony 5400 for $1,500. And the last $500 on cables.
If you also want a TT. then:
$2,400 on speakers, $2,400 on integrated amp, $800 on a CD player, $800 on a used TT, $500 on a new cart, and $500 on a used phono preamp, $600 on cables

A $250 DAC in a $8,000 rig, you're joking right?

It all starts at the source, why skimp there? NOS and newer cheap wall wart P/S DACs can't compete with newer high res DACs, there's no comparison.

I'd suggest a 30/20-25/25 for an Integrated/DAC. The other 50% on speakers and cables you'll be well on your way to a very nice rig.