Audible Illusions Modulus 2 vs. Modulus 3

You will not go wrong with either. The dual volume knobs are actually fine with me. I can't figure out why Sigmund has such a distaste for them. (He has eight arms and you only need one ;) I love my 3A but the 2 sounded great too. Plus I've never had a problem with either. Ever. To beat the 3A you'd need to spend almost double. Go for it.

I once owned a Modulus 2B, that was suprisingly good sounding for he price. It's weakness would be lack of authority in the lower octaves. The main reason that I got rid of it was that the dual volume controls sucked! They were cheap "modpots" and I hated them. Getting balance correct was difficult and they were noisey when used. For that reason alone I would steer youir firend away from that model. In the Modulus # rendetion that problem was resolved with high quality stepped pots.

I haven't owned the Modulus 2 but I have owned the Modulus 3 and 3A. I would be willing to bet that the M3 is a quantum leap better than the M2.

The Modulus 3 is obviously a very good preamp (they sold thousands of the things). It is wonderfully musical and trouble free. The M3A is much more detailed and transparent than the M3 while retaining it's musicality.

I own the McCormack DNA-1 and it mates well with either the M3 or M3A.

This is a low (?) budget high-end system with Vandy, McCormack, Modulus. Modulus 2 and 3 are very good, if your friend can afford 3, I will go for it--overall improvement over the 2 sonically. Good luck!