Go with the Octal 6 SE. You will love the sound. The Ultra's advantage will be, you will a phono stage with the preamp in a single set-up and also a separate power supply. The Octal 6SE however, requires you to have a separate phono pre hence you can tailor the gain required for your cartridge (MM or MC). The Octal 6 SE has premium and upgraded parts already included and this is an option with the Ultra 4. You will love how those Auricaps, Rikens, Caddock and BlackGates sounds. The Octal 6SE is not as space-consuming as the Ultra with the power supply because the controls are located not on the long end of the box. You will also get 3, repeat "3" topologies from the Octal 6 SE: Passive, SRPP, Cathode Follower. It is essentially a 3 - in - 1 preamp. The problem is that you have 2 more tubes to buy but for less than $5 each, its irrelevant. My Octal 6SE is performing great. On CDs, I prefer the SRPP to tame the harshness since its more balance and warmer sounding than the CCF in my system. I love the CCF mode when using LPs. Big, bold, punchy is how I can describe the CCF mode. I don't have a TT presently because I sold my Scout and SDS but whatever my next TT would be, the Octal 6SE will stay.
