How to match preamp and power amp?

Would I be correct to assume that most SS pre-amps would work well?

Nearly all preamps, whether tube-based or solid state, will have no problem driving 100K. And that would certainly apply to a solid state preamp having an output impedance as low as 160 ohms.

Regarding the sensitivity, the 2.71 volt figure most likely means 1.35 volts per leg (i.e., for each signal in the balanced signal pair), which is about average.

Regards,
-- Al
 

Others will likely have good suggestions I have missed ...

Not me! That was a REALLY excellent writeup, Mitch2.

I'll just add a little emphasis to your mention in the first paragraph that power transfer is completely unimportant between preamp and power amp, as well as for any other line-level interfaces. What matters is transferring the signal VOLTAGE accurately.

And although it's not directly relevant, it may be worth mentioning that high preamp output impedance in combination with high cable capacitance can produce a slight upper treble rolloff. That will usually only be a significant effect if the run is very long, and the cable type has high capacitance per unit length, and the preamp output impedance is high.

Best regards,
-- Al