Equivalents of Shimano 105 5600 brakes

hoakin1981

I am building my first road bike :oops: & i am in the market for brakes now. I currently have the Shimano Ultegra 6700 groupset with 6600 levers though. From Shimano's charts i established that the cheapest brake set compatible would be the 105-5600 series. So my question is two-fold, what are the equivalent series of other brands that would match or even surpass the 105 - 5600 brakes & could i use other brand brakes with my 6600 levers with no problems? I will be checking CRC so i would not want to miss out on any deals that might come up.

All opinions, comments welcome and would really appreciate some feedback from anyone who has (in the past) or is currently using different brands on levers & brakes.

Happy new year to all folks! Wishing you all safe rides!