[sdiy] Preamp question

[Brousseau, Paul E (Paul)]

I was perusing the latest TapeOp magazine, and came across a schematic for a DIY Hamptone tube preamp.  I have a couple of questions about it, and was hoping that someone here could provide some insight.  (Of course, I'll email the author as well, but I like to get several explinations-- once just isn't enough for my dense head.)

(The article and schematic is available online at the Hamptone website for reference: (http://www.hamptone.com/mic-pre_kit.htm)

The input stage has two, er, areas: one for a balanced (?) mic (which goes across some optional pad and phantom power circuity and a 1:10 transformer), and one for an instrument DI (which cuts out the mic input, no extra circuitry).  The article states that a large part of the preamp's "sound" comes from this input transformer.

The jist of my question is... can I modify the circuit so that the instrument DI *also* goes through the transformer?

Since the DI input is NOT balanced (hot and ground only), would the transformer work with one end tied to ground and the other to hot?  For the mic input, one end is hot, and the other is cold.  (Is that the right terminology?)

As an aside, the article refers to the "totem-pole" architecture, but I can't tell what that means by looking at the schematic.  Any clues?

Thanks for any advice!  (As you can tell, I'm not at all familiar with transformers...)

--PBr