Naim Fraim wood finishes

Is there a sonic reason why Naim do not seem to offer dark wood finishes apart from 1980’s style black ash? I live in an oak beamed property so would be attracted by options such as dark oak, dark bamboo or that dark Bentley mu-so finish

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Just picked up a second hand cherry shelf, darker than my others……might be as near as you will get?
The fraim is a great, but old design, so colours were popular when designed?

Probably my point in terms of fashions - not that I recall ever following such things :wink: I think a dark oak or Ayous finish would look rather fine.

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An interesting question. My 2 Naim Fraim units (6 shelves) were light cherry finish and came with silver uprights which I thought looked odd. The Canadian distributor at that time substituted black uprights for me. As time passed I simplified my set-up to a Naim Nova + Core and found demo Rosewood Harbeth HL5-XD speakers at the same dealer.

Then, someone on-line offered un-used rosewood shelves that they had custom made for them. They look great with the speakers, Naim components and better fit my aesthetic. So, going custom in your choice of finish may be an option.

1980s style? Black ash is more popular than ever, it’s oak that’s out…

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I for one would have preferred some non-wood finishes for a much cleaner look - black matte or white matte, or even some more interesting colors like the latest Linn plinths…

As for wood - some light oak would be preferable to maple(?!). What about maybe some Walnut? Sorry I am also on the side of hoping dark/brown oak does not come back in fashion…

With wood, an obvious mismatch tends to look better than a very close but not quite perfect match anyway.

I 100% agree that as a finish, Oak would look great (as would walnut). But as someone with a lot of wood around, conformity of wood and stain isn’t required. Any time I’ve tried to match things that have been from other vendors (like a walnut floor not quite matching a walnut kitchen) it looked odd. But going walnut floor and rosewood rack (for example) was a winner.

The pure black ash Fraim, can look a lot more elegant than you imagine. The system pics thread has a few black Fraims in classic decors and they can look great.

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Rosewood would be a great option as my neat mf7’s have a lovely red velvet cloud finish. Presumably that individual got a carpenter to make them up?

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IIRC @Debs has rosewood shelves and I don’t recall her ever saying they were bespoke.

Even black has changed. Originally it had quite a visible grain. After change of supplier the shelves became considerably less grainy, with more of a consistent, smooth satin finish. Some may prefer this, but personally I like the grain of the originals.

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My naim frame shelves are the standard cherry. They’re okay but on very close examination the grain and shade differs noticeable, the quality control isn’t as high as the cost either.

My SBLs are dark oak, LP12 plinth is walnut…
i’m not really into strict colour coordination :upside_down_face:

I agree with Jeff, dark oak would be a fabulous option :slightly_smiling_face: :+1:

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Oops, sorry! I agree with you that QC doesn’t match the price, but that’s not helped by the fact that I think Fraim is overpriced.

It’s not even made of real wood.

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I love the light ash and silver combination. Provides a strong contrast with the units.

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Nobody would make a rack out of solid wood, any more than they would a loudspeaker cabinet. It doesn’t have the consistency and dimensional stability you get from composite materials.

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This is the reason why I was curious if a dark oak option existed. The hi-fi is backed by a oak half panelled room. Don’t know if the picture will come out - first time I’ve tried to attach a piccie. Those who think I’m against black ash think again and see the might of the sound factory tripod stands here. I remember paying £25 extra to get my new linn lp12 in black ash finish - that was though in the 1980’s :wink:

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It was just an example of a good mismatch. Naim don’t do rosewood. My rack isn’t Fraim.

I was just trying to express that wood isn’t like wallpaper. It doesn’t need to match or be limited to just 2 variations per room.

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I think your best chance of getting a match would be to find a decent cabinet maker or wood finisher. If you can remove the finish you may be able to have it colour matched to your oak panelling, but of course, the texture and grain of oak is inimitable and a colour match alone wouldn’t match that.
Getting a cabinet maker to cover a set of shelves in oak veneer would be the best way to get a close match.

I’m not sure I’m asking for a exact colour match - in some ways not at all - a composite finish will never match very aged wood. It’s just that I think light ash and cherry is too light a finish for my type of property. Simply saying surprised Naim haven’t produced something along the lines of a ‘Bentley’ dark African wood premium finish. Not sure I could afford it mind but I would give it heavy thought. I’m not applying for a job in Naim’s marketing department btw.

The cherry looks close to your speaker finish and would contrast nicely with the dark paneling. The black doesn’t provide much contrast and leaves the kit blending into the background.

Properly kiln dried wood would do the job just as well, but would cost more to produce.