Hi michael_d,
I don't think JohnK was being condescending; he was just differentiating between the two so as to be entirely clear.
It isn't a dumb idea to split the voltages from one pre-out, sending them to two separate amplifiers. It just lowers the output voltage to each but if there's enough gain in the preamp stage for the single pre-out, you should be able to compensate.
As to summing two pre-outs with a Y-connector, I get lots of private emails from customers who propose to do just that, and, as JohnK explained, it's not a good idea and likely to result in circuit damage.
Regards,
Alan
