Out goes the Old, In comes the New!

Big difference between trolling and calling a spade a spade. Some of the (unfortunately) more expensive Crowns (some discontinued) are/were pretty good, much better than the current bottom-level Crowns. Excellent engineering doesn't necessarily cost more than mediocre (that's more a result of the design engineer's knowledge and talent), but you can do only so much with $100 in parts (the XLS 1502 parts can't total even that much, considering it's retail price).

To purport that the referred-to "tuning" of an electronic component will improve the sound of that component to a great enough extent to mitigate (or even eliminate) the inherent shortcomings in the component (it's linearity, stability, freedom from distortion, etc.), that the improvements brought about by said tuning are equal (or even greater) in their ability to determine the ultimate sound quality of the component as is the basic, inherent design of the component (which "tuning" does not address), is a very ambitious claim.

Real designers/engineers DO tune their circuits, but in the real sense of the term. Watch Roger Modjeski's You Tube videos on amplifier design to find out why the dielectric properties inherent in electrolytic capacitor's make them unacceptable for use in certain applications (where there is a change in the voltage across the cap, for instance), while fine in others. Amateur "tuners", lacking a deep understanding of circuit design and electronic principles, dismiss all electrolytics, in any and all applications, as sounding "bad".

Recording engineer Kav Alexander of Water Lily Records, known for his astoundingly-great sounding recordings (Ry Cooder was determined to have Kav record him after hearing one of the Water Lily albums), asked Modjeski to determine the source of some objectionable noise in the tube electronics of his custom recorder. Roger found it---some of the "Audiophile Grade" components (I don't remember---caps, resistors, etc.) someone had used in the circuit, their characteristics not appropriate for the requirements imposed on them by the circuit. The kind of audiophile-approved parts thought of as sounding "better" than garden variety parts, though they in fact sound worse when misused. 

Roger is one of my favorite designers, as well a great guy. I was a dealer of Roger's and have enjoyed owning many of his products.

I obviously disagree with your premises above concerning Crown and Tuning, but that's ok.

As far as misusing parts, I'm in total agreement. I usually won't get near a "mod" unless I trust the source and have put the unit through my own evaluating.

I also don't trust measurements. One of my jobs for Turner's crew was testing equipment calibrations. Meaning testing the test equipment as well the components. This is maybe one of the reasons you don't see me talking techno-babble. I've worked with real engineers and was trained by them. It's pretty easy to spot the talker from the walker, and that's ok too. Everyone has their own experiences both professional and non. My gig is "doing" and fluff means very little to me.

Michael Green