I am lucky enough to soon be taking delivery of a NAP 300dr. I have searched both this site & the previous archived Naim Forum. I can’t find anything definitive on which order to stack the 8 empty shelves on my 2 stacks of Fraim. There seems to be others who have a fairly similar system to mine & I would be really keen to know which way to go. I have enough shelves to place all of my final kit on.
I think My system is outlined in my profile, but doesn’t mention my recently purchased EE switch or the impending arrival of the 300dr. So full list is NDX 2, XPSdr, 252, SuperCap, 250dr & EE switch.Current kit is stacked like so:
When the new arrival gets here how should it be stacked.
I know about brains & brawn, but questions like I think the Core is brains, but doesn’t it have a really large transformer ? (I could be totally wrong there) I have read that the 300 head unit should be on the bottom left hand stack, if so should Core move to the right ?
I’m sorry to bring this old chestnut up again, but as I now see quite a few similar systems to the one I have aspired to for the last 10 years, I wondered whether it might be possible to get a definitive guide to what goes where.
It might be worth considering putting the Core elsewhere on your network, in another room? It sounds better to me away from all the other electronics. The EE switch i would put on the floor tucked away from sight behind the fraim, but still feeding your NDX2 source. There is no harm in having free shelves particularly below a source such as NDX2 or 252 preamp.
I’ve just built up my new similar system (252/SC, NDX2/555, 300), but not with a Fraim. The rack is not that different, though: it’s ~20 cm less wide (overall, for 2 stacks), but the first level has similar distance from the floor. I also have the 300 head on bottom left, but the burndys would have not just touched the floor with the 300 PS on bottom right, but rested on the floor for most of the way. Is it that much different with a Fraim just because the greater width?
I have on left:
252
NDX2
Rega Aria - Neo
300 head
And on right:
300 PS
SC
555
This way, all cables can hang nicely without touching anything. The 252-SC burndy and SNAIC are perfectly parallel and touching in one point, the NDX2-555 burndy is of course in parallel to that, with some distance. The 300 burndys cross the burndys/SNAIC between 252-SC and NDX2-555, but this can be done without touching.
If you put both the 300 boxes on the bottom shelves, the cables for sure will lay on the floor, unless you increase the gap between the racks, until they dont, but it will be a big gap
@Richard.Dane - definitely thinking about Core on right hand side. @Suedkiez & @Dunc - I had seen an earlier thread about 300ps on top of right hand stack to limit burndy touching floor. @Gazza - still keen to have the Core in the same room and on rack, but will follow your suggestion about EE switch on floor.
I know this has been said before but it would be great to have a definitive guide from Naim. I know the variables are huge, but when achieving their recommended system (on the website) it would seem a nice idea to have their thoughts on recommended stacking order.
Any other thoughts greatly appreciated. I think the 300 will be here by the end of the week, so plenty of time.
When I had a 300 I found that the head unit sounded better higher up. I had it on the bottom at first btw.
If you can get some medium uprights I would use those on the Brain side for the top level.
Space/300/ndx on med/252
Space/300/xps on med/SC
That way you are using the bottom as suggested by Richard but you get the height to get the Burndies off the floor. The Med will give separation between the source and pre. I have found this to be useful.
If you are feeling brave use all medium uprights on the Brawn side BUT use 3 shelves and use 5 std on the brain side. Then do Blank/300H/NDX/Blank/252. Your brawn stack will be marginally lower BUT again I found this good as you don’t have boxes exactly side by side. This allows me to get more air around the pre which helps.
Totally agreed, at least for typical, recommended configurations (like the one you and I have) on Fraim, there should be a guide.
By the way, no cabling pictures yet as it has to be improved (though has gone pretty well already), but in case you want to have a look at my new one: link
Yes, it may well be that the Burndy cables touch the floor with the 300 and PS both on the bottom shelf, so it might be good to move the PS side up a shelf and put the core at bottom. Either way, try to have one stack without Transformers and the other with the transformers (Brain & brawn).
