I am a fan of this phono stage, and have used one for a few years. IMO, it sounds more like what real live music sounds like than anything else remotely in this price range. It is smooth, detailed, stages well, and most importantly (for me) is that the music moves (prat) in a coherent (realistic) way. I had it modified by Mitch a couple of years ago.
The improvements wrought by the mods of course affect the MC section as well as the MM. The best way I would describe the post-mods sound is to imagine that with the stock unit you were listening to your system with a thin scrim thrown over your speakers. The mods remove the scrim. In other words, the basic character of the unit has not changed, but now there is substantially more clarity, with resulting better sound staging. Individual images may seem smaller at first, until you realize that it's because there is less fuzz around them (more clarity). The overall sound my also seem slightly brighter and less tubey (especially before break-in/yes, 100 hours is about right), but again it's because there is less grunge and fuzz around images. Dynamically, it is even more lively than before, but very natural. All worth the cost of the mods. Yes, Level 2 is definitely worth the money. And if your unit has the older style phono jack which are prone to breaking, get better ones installed.
The improvements wrought by the mods of course affect the MC section as well as the MM. The best way I would describe the post-mods sound is to imagine that with the stock unit you were listening to your system with a thin scrim thrown over your speakers. The mods remove the scrim. In other words, the basic character of the unit has not changed, but now there is substantially more clarity, with resulting better sound staging. Individual images may seem smaller at first, until you realize that it's because there is less fuzz around them (more clarity). The overall sound my also seem slightly brighter and less tubey (especially before break-in/yes, 100 hours is about right), but again it's because there is less grunge and fuzz around images. Dynamically, it is even more lively than before, but very natural. All worth the cost of the mods. Yes, Level 2 is definitely worth the money. And if your unit has the older style phono jack which are prone to breaking, get better ones installed.