Berkeley DAC into preamp or amp ?

Very few preamps can be better than no preamp.
I've tried many very expensive ones and always cable was better than preamp.
Except once: Tidal Preos.
So, if you want to put preamp, be ready to spend a lot of time and money.
But at the end you may get into Nirvana!

I am using a preamp with my Berkley only because I am using the DartZeel pre and power which sounds best only with the 50ohm Zeel cable... otherwise, I would ditch the preamp as well, assuming I have no analog source.

Pbrennan - Yes 54-55 is the recommended fixed setting on the DAC when feeding a preamp, but how far down do you have to attenuate with strong signal sources (e.g. CDs with high playback level) when feeding directly to your amp?

I run it through a JRDG Capri but am selling the pre and will run it direct to a pair of older Jeff Rowland model 7m's. The dac is in the middle of it's volume scale most of the time. I have tried it both ways and cant say that I can tell the difference. Which is either high praise for the capri or a poor review of my ears.
I honestly think that I EXPECTED degredation from a dac at lower volumes (throwing away bits and that sort of thing) but cant say that I heard any.

My Berkeley rarely gets out of the 30s feeding directly into the amp. Any comments?