Perhaps a Simrak?
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It would be my choice. Very nice. But if the partner of the OP doesn’t like the Fraim, perhaps she doesn’t want an hifi rack but more a deco design furniture ? ( like Roche bobois).
I hope Driaj will tell us.
She basically dislikes anything that looks like a dedicated hifi rack. We’re considering a custom contemporary looking birch ply entertainment unit. Recent upgrades have made it more pressing (can no longer stack bricks on top of each other at nd555 level).
It will follow brain/brawn layout. 2 x 3.
Should we be fitting cups and balls with glass? Material choice key?
I had the same problem, i wanted a fraim in beech/black. The misses hated the look of it, especially from the side. So a compromise was agreed on and this is it, he can make what you want and at a very reasonable price.
Sorry not the best quality picture but its all i had on this device, if you would like any more details then as long as its ok for me yo say, then just ask
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Have a look at Audinni and AV Soul.
We’re thinking of getting something bespoke from one of these guys next year. Not cheap, but look good.
Apologies Richard, I think I may have broken forum rules by including the website links in my previous post. Please moderate if need be.
Thanks.
Dave
New wife.
Get your priorities sorted!
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A well known Naim dealer in Edinburgh has an ex-demo Stillpoints ESS rack
I think it’s ugly, but each to their own…
OK - few pictures of my systems
The main ‘library’ system:
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I’ve added stainless steel ball bearings and nuts under my 10mm glass shelves for a bit more isolation. $72 from the engineering shop. Glass shelves were about $100/each.
This is a tricky one. With your sort of equipment it depends to what extent you are willing to compromise the sound you get from your spending of £35,000 on hifi equipment. I’ve tried various stands over the years and some have been really bad. Of the well known ones, Fraim really is very good. Could you not compromise on a pair of low Fraim racks in a decent colour? As Tobyjug suggests above its perfectly possible to get a surround made - something with doors and cutouts on the top for the glass? Alternatively, if you want to go with some sort of wooden unit with glass shelves and balls you’ll just have accept that it’s a compromise. Does some Heath Robinson affair really, really look better than two neat stacks of Fraim?
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Yes, the SVT is a great option, which both sounds and looks good. It doesn’t sound as good as a Fraim but is a nice compromise. Hutter is very nice looking though seems much rarer these days - a nice ‘European’ look that may appeal.
I’ve tried to get most of these through but with no success. We’re currently looking at approaching a London company called Uncommon Projects who specialise in beautiful custom ply designs.
My preference is two Fraim stacks but not looking likely, and this is someone who has been incredibly accommodating this year with several serious upgrades. I’ve read about these kinda situations before on here and never really got it… but it looks like Fraim is the line in my relationship 
Ok, so here is my suggestion. I’ve looked up Uncommon Projects and it does look lovely. So work out the size of a twin Fraim, allowing an extra 20cm from rear leg to wall. Get them to design a cupboard that would enclose the Fraim entirely, with no back and slots at the the sides to allow air to circulate and speaker leads to escape. You could have display shelves for books and arty stuff above. That way it will both look and sound good. Using system automation and WiFi to control the system you can have it completely invisible. I can imagine this design working really well.
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As well as covering the industrial appearance of some racks or ranked electronic boxes, a cupboard built over/round a hifi rack has added benefit of greater isolation of sound from the speakers, and can be lined with absorbent material reducing internal resonances. With equipment highly sensitive to transmitted vibration it might reduce the degree of demand on the rack, while also reducing directly incident vibration from the air.
The first time I did this was with a Sound Organisation rack bearing a turntable, primarily to put it out of temptation and reach of inquisitive young fingers, and it worked well (other than being making changing a record a bit awkward). But no good for anything with an infrared remote control, unless the doors are left open when playing, and if power amplifiers in particular are housed then there needs to be good arrangement for airflow…
My old Quadradpire has simple doors that enclose the lower portion. Looks really nice but I cannot find anyone that does anything similar. Quadraspire never answered emails as to why they stopped making this style.
My rack is getting tatty and will have to say that way until I find something effective and attractive!
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