What is your best kept secret in mid-fi?

Newer is not necessary better. There is nothing wrong w/older technology. Especially true w/tuners. Good sound can be had for very little $. Recently been shopping on "E-bay" and have bought excellent older equipment for cents on the dollar. Most of the equipment I remember reading about or actually using/or selling. Always check on the seller's feedback and e-mail them a question.(Make sure they know how to pack well!) Interconnects/spk. wires/power cords are very important. Don't skimp and buy used if possible. (Not always the cheapest! I've seen Van de Hul's selling for more
than ordering new directly from England.) AC conditiong is very important as well as having dedicated lines if possible. At the very least change the inexpensive outlet to a higher-grade outlet. Clean your contacts. Seperate your interconnects/spk. wire from AC cords. Equipment break-in/settling time is very important. Do your research. Reading these forum topics you'll get a sense of the equipment's orientation, whether on the lean or warm side of the spectrum. It all boils down to system matching/the room and a person's expectations. Hopefully you'll put a satisfying system together on the first time around but this unlikely, that's why it's very important to have lots of pieces around for the puzzle! :) Once you get "it" right, sell off the excess and get off the "merry-go-round" and be content if possible.

I agree with Rsbeck, however I’ll take it one step farther and say put one or two 5 KVA (or larger) isolation transformers into the equation. If you thought the dedicated circuits were a great improvement, wait until you hear the additional improvement using the isolation transformer with or without the dedicated circuits. Of course the dedicated circuits with cryo’d outlets and the isolation transformer is the way to go.
It’s hard to believe how good a mediocre or good sound system can sound with clean filtered power!

Absolutely, CURRENT DELIVERY. To quote from Mark Levinson's 2001 Playlist, "A common misconception is that amplifiers actually make a small signal larger. In reality, they convert the power from an AC outlet into several successively larger, but painstakingly accurate, copies of the input signal." So, it is impossible to get accurate sound using dirty power. Almost all my recent upgrades have been concerned with current delivery. Dedicated circuit, power conditioner and power cords - all make a significant difference.

Geez,I thought anything that is worth knowing about in audio can be discoverd on these BB's.

Right now the DAK is the newest piece to hit the marketplace. Before that it was the MENSA DAC. I think people are beginning to discover that upsampling is not the way to get the bext sound through DAC's. I guess I am a separatist.

In Cables I think OTA is a great cable ,but highly priced by 47Labs. There are other versions that outperform it though.

If someone were to market a non-metallic RCA that could be used with variable gauges of wire then that would be a great product.Eichmanns are the best RCA's at the moment being little Metal is used that gets in the way of the original signal.

JMO

A well kept secret appears to be the fact that a CD straight out of the box is an unfinished product. Yes, it will play but any CD can be greatly improved:

step 1: bevel the outer edge of the CD using the Gläss CD - SOUND - IMPROVER.

step 2: color the inside and outside edges of the CD with a dark felt pen (I use black but other claim that green is best).

step 3: apply auric illuminator.

Do not apply these techniques on LPs.