Looking at what you've got Rrolack, I hope you tried direct connection between The PS Audio Dac and your X30.5 poweramp as Paul McGowin has said the dac has what he calls "Resolution perfect volume and balance controls". Maybe upgrade this to DirectStream.
The output impedance of this PS Audio dac at 100ohms is able to drive the lowish input impedance of the XA30.5 far better than either pre, it's much lower and stronger than the ARC preamps at 850ohms and 300ohms.
And it has a switchable in output level of 1.4v or 2.8v
Try the 1.8v first and if loud enough up to full on the dac's volume control leave it there if not switch to the 2.8v
This will give you the most transparent and dynamic way to transfer the music of the source to the poweramp/s, and if as good as I think it will be you can make money out of it with the sale of a preamp.
Remember what Nelson Pass said about removing the preamp.
A Quote from the master Nelson Pass
Nelson Pass,
"We’ve got lots of gain in our electronics. More gain than some of us need or want. At least 10 db more.
Think of it this way: If you are running your volume control down around 9 o’clock, you are actually throwing away signal level so that a subsequent gain stage can make it back up.
Routinely DIYers opt to make themselves a “passive preamp” - just an input selector and a volume control.
What could be better? Hardly any noise or distortion added by these simple passive parts. No feedback, no worrying about what type of capacitors – just musical perfection.
And yet there are guys out there who don’t care for the result. “It sucks the life out of the music”, is a commonly heard refrain (really - I’m being serious here!). Maybe they are reacting psychologically to the need to turn the volume control up compared to an active preamp."
Cheers George
