The Mapletree is an superb budget tube pre. I love my Ultra 4SE. The linestage version the 2SE can be had for around $500 used, but they don't pop up very often. If you see one, jump on it.
I got my 4SE from a fellow AC'er and I've never bought anything audio that made me smile as much. It does every thing I wanted. Big soundstage, liquid mids, but no high end roll off or tubby bass. I think the only thing more money would buy might be more transparency.
Mine has the Blackgate caps, upgrade umbilical and NOS Sylvania tubes, so it's not exactly stock, but if you got a base unit, you could add these things later.
It does have a bit of quirky old fashioned look. I like it, but some may not. No fancy machined aluminum case work here. And no remote.
My music is fun again. I think that's the best compliment I can give it.
