You tap on this and your tonearm will bounce like within a shaker.
Yikes. I can put my iPhone running the Seismometer app on my platter and tap really hard and repeatedly on my HRS rack, and the vibration graph barely budges at all.
WTF??? How is that not completely irrelevant to the discussion about logos on racks? Help me out here. ![]()
Their items look absolutely beautiful. I have been contemplating getting one next year.
But Hifi rack they are not. Nice, yes.
Apologies French Rooster as on reflection I chose a poor image to represent them. They do indeed supply a variety of tasty racks, made to measure, some of which can be seen below.
I think they look very nice. I could entertain the idea of using one of their products but I could never own a Fraim.
The first rack on your pic looks very nice indeed.
But I don’t think it’s really an audiophile rack. I began my hifi journey with something similar, the Atacama rack.
I upgraded after with a Lovan rack which gives better results. Specially good for the money.
Then a Fraimlite with Finite Elemte cerapucks under it. Still a nice uplift.
You have something like a 20k system. I think it deserves a better rack. Or at least add some isolation devices under each components, like Isoacoustics. And an isolation platform under the turntable ( which you have already).
Lovan rack
With a great system one really needs to approach getting a rack as an equal component in the system, not as a piece of furniture to display it. Otherwise, you may not get from your system what it has to offer.
You explained the same, but more straightforward.
Thanks for the guidance and advice, it’s much appreciated. I’m a bit of a slave as to how it takes its place in the room but hope to compensate for any deficiencies inherent in the furniture approach through the judicious use of some Soundeck damping isolation feet. Time will tell.
LOL….that’s definitely a staged photo. It has a Boulder 866 integrated and a Boulder 812 DAC preamp on the same stand. Those two would never be together in the same system.
I rather like the ‘I can’t be bothered to finish the floor and wall so I’ll just set the hifi up’ look though…
I think you really need to do both. If you have something jarring or fugly in the room, it greatly detracts from the enjoyment. Because music is an emotional experience and you cannot turn off your other senses (unless you listen whilst floating in an isolation tank) so in addition to the sound, the room you are in, how comfortable it is, how it looks, even how it smells, how the hifi looks and makes you feel to interact with, all these things play a role in the end result of the listening experience.
It doesn’t take a lot for the wrong looking rack to wreck the feel of your room, But it takes a lot for a rack’s performance (or lack of) to make the hifi unlistenable.
While performance is critical, I think the best performing rack needs to be shortlisted from those that are visually acceptable.
Not sure about the spaghetti.
When I had my current system installed I wanted to move ‘Up’ from my Atacama rack, but to my surprise my dealer said no because in his opinion the Atacama rack was a good hifi rack, it didn’t look out of place in our room and in his view I would need to spend many thousands for what may produce a tiny improvement. So I have stayed with the same rack and to be honest unless a house move forces the issue I doubt I’ll change it.
Indeed. For sure I think spending $20k on a rack is fine but it has to work in the room. Between an audio sublime $20K monstrosity and something that looks right for $400, if those were my only options I’d go with the $400 one.
In a sense I have. I like the look of Quadraspire. A few other racks are more commensurate with the quality of gear but visually I can’t really get on with them. In one room I was simply unable to find any rack at any price that worked so went the no rack approach. It couldn’t be helped.
There are some even better ones that have bother performance and aesthetic appeal but they are simply beyond my budget.
Seconded: Quadraspire is easy on the eye and pretty darn good on the ears too, without over-stretching the wallet.
I agree a rack needs to appeal to the room and who is in it.
I’m lucky that I have dedicated a 2nd floor bedroom (11’ x 17’ x 8’) as a listening room only. For my use cse, a geeky looking rack fits right in, and still leaves the room as a compatible place of joy. ![]()
I would even like to replace my Fraim with another HRS EXR. I think that latter is a better looking rack.
Nice system ! I will never sell my olives ![]()



