Naim Fraim - is it worth it really?

I did start the Naim experience at age 33 but yes, increasing income, and since early retirement the time to sit and listen, have been the enablers of this expensive hobby. Remember though, you can’t take it with you.

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Happy Birthday :partying_face: :birthday:
Try not to get over excited, or 69 may become a bridge to far…
This forum is certainly not a safe place for the elderly & infirm :rofl:

PS: Also a pensioner and 58 at the end of the week… :scream:

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Not effective… too fat… :wink:

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Happy birthday. :tumbler_glass:

Picked up 2 Fraim racks from my friend after
he sold his 500s set.

Considering to replace the Foundation MRS for the P20 and dCS… but Fraim doesn’t work with the rear support getting in the way of cabling…

Still quite happy now.

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Brilliant :joy:

I don’t have space for a Fraim, and have had the boxes in an Ikea Besta unit … hardly ideal. It looks solid but really isn’t.
This is a prototype I made last year to see if it made a difference, unsurprisingly it does!

The shelves are 18mm MDF, I cut three holes in the bottom of the unit so the bottom shelf sits on spikes on the floor. The second shelf with three legs sits on spikes on top of that. The spikes have hex sockets in the top allowing the shelves to be easily levelled with an Allen key down through small holes in the shelves and legs. I had a local glazier get 10mm toughened smoked black glass shelves made, which are exactly the width of the Naim boxes. These sit on Naim cups and balls. Same thing on the other side of the unit.

So my “almost Fraim” :slightly_smiling_face: … plan is to rebuild using high density Valchromat as the difference was very noticeable.

Edit: total cost for four shelves was about £400

Mark

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Going to pimp my Fraim Lite with Naim glass shelves including the original accessories. But not today :wine_glass:

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Really cool photo!

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I would appreciate your impressions after the installation, especially under the pre.

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I added the shelf under my 552 few hours ago but haven’t done any listening tests so far. Glass shelf front flush with the wooden shelf front and 552 flush with the glass shelf front. I think that was the best “default” position?

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I added/replaced my fraimlite with full fat fraims under my NDX2 and 282. I also moved them further away from power sources.

It’s amazing what a piece of glass can do! I can’t believe I didn’t upgrade to fraims a long time ago :man_facepalming:. Pay the extra and get the glass!

Ps an evening of music in - I still can’t believe how much the system has opened up, because of some extra glass shelves :man_shrugging:

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Having played with the glass shelf under my 552 for a day I would say it adds some resolution, air and clarity to the music. Reduced microphonics, reduced coloration maybe? I do have the speakers up close to the boxes so reducing this should lead to some improvements in theory. Of course trivial doing proper AB tests. I will now add shelves so I have them under all boxes. I think it looks great too :sunglasses:

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Did you go with the DIY option in the end?

Got three original used sets. Will make three additional sets with naim original ball and ball holder and let my local company make copies of the glass shelves. Will place these under the power boxes.

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I have had my fraim for probably 15 to 20 years. I still think it looks nice and great w naim gear. However if u were to incorporate any other brand equipment onto the rack, it is really quite a pain. The standard height legs are really quite short. The width allowance is generally ok, but the depth is also an issue especially with the back middle column in the way.

If you are only going to use it for Naim equipment, I don’t think you can do better than Fraim. But if you intend to have other brand equipment as part of the system and you only want a uniform look, you might have to consider other options.

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If you referring to the back middle column getting in the way of the dCS clock, there is a way to address it.


Idea was from Dunc

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That’s clever…

The rear leg can really be a pain, plus the fraim depth isn’t great for some non naim gear. But then it’s designed for naim boxes, so you can’t moan. You just need to get invented.
I came up with a few solutions, the one above gives maximum room, then i found 28mm copper fits perfectly over the naim bits, and just replacing the rear box section with the pipe works well, even using a front box section on the rear can work. Lots of different solutions.
The fraim rack certainly rings well and doesn’t even try to deaden the sound. In fact, it does the opposite. This obviously works well with naim, but it certainly doesn’t suit all manufacturers, as not everything like glass to start with.
But in a full naim system, the fraim is the way to go for sure.
My new artesania rack is quite the opposite to fraim in how it works, no ringing, no glass, internal dampers with hanging shelves.

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The above is usually true of components, except for…552 and ND555. These are widely regarded as sounding a bit smoother if the front panel isn’t in line with the front of the glass but sits a bit further back; perhaps 5mm or so. You might prefer it, you might not, but worth a try.

I’m not at home so can’t post a pic of mine but I did think it made a positive difference.

Cheers,

Ian

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