Is it safe

Al's post is nothing if not succinct, detailed, and absolutely reasonable...you know...now that I think about it, maybe my sister is bipolar.

Thank you everyone and Thank You Almarg for your well explained response. Once again I am amazed by the depth of knowledge and willingness of the members of this site to help each other out.It looks like with the potential to do harm, even in the long term to my equipment I am just going to bite the bullet and get a preamp.

03-15-12: Elizabeth
Thanks for the great clarification Almarg.
And, as usual..LOL! bombaywalla is off the mark
Yeah I like to rub it in too.

LOL, Elizabeth!! not only do you a massive lack of understanding of electronics (as exemplified by your many befuddled posts that litter Audiogon forums attempting to explain a technical subject) but you also have a massive lack of reading comprehension!
re-read my post & re-read Almarg's post.

03-15-12: Wolf_garcia
...you know...now that I think about it, maybe my sister is bipolar.

LOL! so, you get ear-grating, harsh distortion from her??? ;-)