The difference between II and I is much greater than the difference between III & SE, I think II & SE are much more musical than I, there was some change in the tubes used and possibly the circuit in the move from I to II/SE, Is SE an improvement over II, sure, a bit, but after moving from II to SE, I found that it would have been perfectly easy to live with II and be perfectly content - both are very fine preamplifiers that suit my sonic preference very well.