I prefer Ultralinear with my Vac Phi 300.1 as well. This seems to be the concensus. That said, I got a different opinion from another party last week. His speaker was quite efficient. I believe in the 94DB range. I don't want to give any details, to respect his privacy. Anyway, he preferred Triode operation, and Balanced as well. This may have had much to do with the preamp he was using, as it may have been optimized for balance operation. My speakers are 87db, and Ultralinear is clearly better. However, if my speaker was more efficient, I would check out Triode again. Barrelchief, I would be curious as to the efficiency of your speaker.