Ia a good amp more important than a good DAC?

I am in the source first camp.
You amp cannot fix what is not right upstream.

would I be peeing in the wind to use a great amp and a good but not great CD player?

Can you hold it for a bit longer until we get to a rest stop?

I'm in the source camp, and we have a little song we like to sing around the campfire and you're lucky you can't hear me sing it. Garbage in = garbage out. I don't want a great amp to amplify all the nuance and detail of a crappy source. Newbee, however, does, as usual, make a good point: digital front-ends and formats come and go like movie sequels. Amps and speakers stand the test of time like Robert Redford and Clint Eastwood. Then again, who knows how long you're going to live - why not get the best right now dammit!? That, or hang on to what you have and put your money into hookers, booze, vending machine prophelactics and cheap hotel rooms.

1) Speakers

2) Amps

3) Preamp

4) Subwoofer

5) Turntable

6) Phono Stage

7) Cartridge

8) Isolation

9) DAC

10) Power Conditioning

11) Disc/Music server

12) Nice (not crazy) speaker cables and interconnect

13) power cord (just something better than what came with it)

That's how I think you should build a system, and my advice is worth what you paid for it.

1A Speakers 1b PreAmp 1c Amp = Primary sound Characteristic of your system.

2a Primary Source (Digital or Analog)

3 Spk Cables, IC's Power Cord. (Address weakneses above if any)

4a Power Dist
4b Power Cond if needed, some set ups sound great w/out.

5 Room Acoustics and treatments

6 Sit back and Enjoy the fruits of your labour. Tweak as necessary but enjoy the process and let things settle in a good while after any major upgrade.
Your ears will need to reaclimate to the changes,... some take a bit of time to bear fruit. Best to you!