Yes, you can put the C4S boards in without installing the shunt regulator upgrade. You could leave the octal socket and use a 6SN7 in the middle if you'd like to keep the look of a fatter tube in the middle, though the cement resistor in the heater power supply will likely need its value dropped a bit to trim the heater voltage back to 6V. There are some super cool new production globe 6SN7s floating around.
The SR power supply also drops the noise floor down a bit.