I recall visiting one dealer who had placed the boxes in an adjacent lobby with just speaker cables punched through the intervening wall. I took this idea and placed my boxes in the staircase lobby with the speaker cables being channeled under the floor and through the wall into the listening room.
I like the arrangement, except when changing source and volume. That’s an inconvenience I can live with. Even routing the cables for the REL over the doorway is only a minor irritation that I had not envisaged when I rewired the cottage.
Back in the late 90’d I purchased a “Sounds Unique” cabinet, mainly because they were the only ones which seemed to have glass at the sides, doors on the front (which helps to keep out dust and children) with an open back for ventilation. The shelves sit on spikes, it’s just about 2 units wide, and holds the telly. How SQ compares to others, I really dont know, but I have never seen anything similar to take its place, and fit into the space I have.
Hi Chris. Could you clarify. So lets say as an example the kit is in a cupboard. I only use the Naim app (Qobuz or iRadio) and therefore stream. Do you therefore need a line of sight say to change the volume which is also controlled through the Naim app. Generally I never use a remote
The Naim app just needs a connection to your home network over WiFi. It doesn’t communicate directly with the streamer, so they don’t have to be in the same room or have line of sight.
Thanks Chris. Therefore assuming sufficiently ventilated a tv type unit could be constructed to contain the kit which is my case is two racks of 3 with cabling and sockets hidden and speaker cables coming out to the left and right
Yes, that would be fine. With a network cable to the streamer you take any wireless connectivity issues out of the equation. Your phone just communicates via your router.
I dealt with the ventilation issue by having the cabinet completely open below the doors, leaving a gap of an inch or so, and a similar slot between the top and the wall.
I only ever caused my 250DR to shut down once and, if I was regularly listening at headbanging levels, I’d rig up an array of computer fans. I recently upgraded to a 300DR, which has a fan, so hopefully that won’t be an issue in future
There’s a few users who are also scaling down/simplifying their systems to fewer boxes. Not everyone likes to see piles of black boxes (especially if it’s in the family lounge), but others like to show them off, each to their own.
Personally I decided to hide mine the last time we decorated and put the Sound Org table in an alcove cupboard I had built, just leaving the LP12 on show.
Whilst it hasn’t a lot of ventilation I’ve taken to switching the 135’s off when not in use and that helps massively. After 20 mins playing I can tell no difference.
This picture is when it was first completed, 52 now has its own shelf through a slightly different Sound Org table.
I have two such fans, both 150 mm. Mind is a class A amp, so runs hot regardless of how loud. I usually leave the doors open during very hot weather (rare where I live).
I’d rather take the minuscule hit in absolute fidelity to not have to look at Hifi stuff in my lounge for the most part so from my perspective yes it can - but mine is a shared space and the aesthetics of it are important to me.
I can’t really believe that someone hasn’t figured this out yet / hi fi support furniture is sinfully ugly for the most part and if someone came up with Technical solution like a Fraim hidden in a Contemporary sideboard/mid century unit they’d make out pretty well I reckon…
Clic furniture is stylish, Danish, HiFi friendly and reassuringly expensive .
I’ve actually seen some shots of them with Naim and plenty with LP12 and so on. They make some special pieces for vinyl storage, turntables and so on. Have a look.
I used to keep my kit in a bespoke “backless cabinet”. It was of an antique style, backless so I could have the sensitive kit on wall shelves and it worked well.
I eventually (after about 15 years) moved it to the current dedicated listening room and bought a set of Fraim.
Thanks for the replies. Personally I like the contemporary look that @jamiehcrowther has. If a unit is being custom made then it can be built with two hi fi racks spaced apart and room at the back for cables but with ventilation grills above so so it appears boxed in but still on proper racks. With System Automation and ethernet using the Naim app shouldn’t be a need for line of site. I hope that’s what I deduce from this thread
My Quadraspire cabinets have doors. No idea why they stopped doing this, I cannot imagine it affects performance and it does keep things tidy and discrete. Provided you don’t put some components on top of course!
Yes in the 90s you could buy wood or glass panels for Quadraspire. It’s unclear whether they really don’t make them or simply don’t sell them in some markets. I’ve noticed that where I am, Quadraspire have several products not available in Europe anymore - sadly doors and panels is not one of them.
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… do wonder how you’re dealing with all the cables?!