Ia a good amp more important than a good DAC?

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.

Pubul - That was my point exactly.

Thomas - one thing I've found to make a huge difference is placement of the speakers in the room, even more so than putting acoustically absorbent materials around the room (although my room is fairly dead already).

While the garbage in-garbage out argument makes sense, I have a competent USB DAC that has outlasted 3 amp/pre combinations. In my experience the improvement offered by my current $12k amp/pre would not have been matched by replacing my $1k DAC paired with the old amp/pre combinations.

Thomastrouble, it was my experience too that room treatment is a significant upgrade; to the point that if you don't have that handled you never really hear how good your system can be; and as you likely heard, you don't have to strain to hear the improvements brought by good room treatment.

ThomasT, I agree with you 100%

1. Room
2. Speakers
3. Amp
4. DAC (even a cheap DAC has amazing specs)