since sound comes down to personal taste, it is pretty hard to give valuable advise on that topic.
i have seen peeps with a great tone going trough a cheapo pedal that i would never consider buying. and i have seen others having the most expensive gear out there sounding like crap.
i know this is probably not the answer you wanted, but thats the way it is.
first of all you need a picture in your mind of what your sound should be like.
then you have to be aware of the fact, that a very vital part of your tone comes from your fingers - the way HOW you play a note (w/fingers, w/pic, alot of legato, etc)
Go visit Jeff Beck and try his guitar over his gear with his settings - i swear you wont sound like Jeff Beck - even if you play his licks!

thats a thing called personallity which alot of newcommers lack today.

however - as a general rule you can say - the more expensive your gear is, the better it will sound. same goes for your guitar. not always, but most of the time.

all i can tell you is to go and try everything you can find. maybe you´ll discover that the mega tone (for you) comes out of a simple 100 Watt Marshall without the use of any effectboards. or maybe you´ll find your ultimate tone in the factorypresets of a TC-Electronics G-Force Effectsrack - you never know...