As my HiFi build journey moves to natural stopping point, I am now faced with a rack order decision.
There have been some suggestions already, but I thought I’d open a thread and see what feed back I get.
There are a few conditions though:
No further equipment changes or upgrades are being considered at this time. I am working solely with the existing system.
For the time being, neither the speakers or sub are moving, but the racks could swap sides if deemed necessary
There is a potential for another shelf at the bottom of the TT Rack, but it will be a few weeks before that can be achieved. That could be a phase two change.
Here is a diagram of what I have in its current positions and a picture of same for context.
Thank you in advance for your constructive assistance
Visually, I like that and think any variation very unlikely to look better, and probably not as good.
Acoustically, if it sounds right, with no hum or congested or blurred bass evident, then it is probably best to leave alone.
I had 82 (not 282), with 1 HC, then 2 HCs, then 1 SC. Eventually I paired that SC with a 52, as the good lord intended. I also added an XPSDR to my NDX2 (quieter in quiet bits, better treble air and space, less sibilance, more punch further down). I also have a 300DR, so several aspects match.
In my system, getting power supplies (esp Hicaps) on the right and digital sources and phono stage to the left sounds better - doing it your way looked a tad better but gave me a slight hum in my system.
It might be worth trying a variation of that sort. On the other hand, if it sounds great, why go looking for problems when you could just be enjoying the music?
Looks good but totally aesthetic changes for me would be source at the top so lh stack would be ndx, xps, 282,300,300ps. Hicaps would go to the right rack to fill the space left by the ndx. Probably totally against Naim law for positioning though.
I would like to see a sensitive and high quality source like the LP12 on Fraim or a wall shelf. That’s the thing that to me stands out. But I don’t know the other rack - maybe it’s better than Fraim!
Take a look at the post I linked to above, it’s spiked into threaded rods sunk I think into concrete below the cabin floor. I’m sure Quicksticks can explain better, and sorry for speaking for you QS!
Yes I can see what you’ve done from the pictures. I could make a few what I think would be usefully constructive observations based on my own experiences but due to your rude and dismissive response I’ll keep these to myself. Some people!
Neither rude or dismissive.
The response @gthack gave said it all, I had nothing to add.
I cannot put my TT on a wall shelf as the cabin is a timber building and wall shelves don’t work sadly. We have tried in the past.
OK. First of all In would ask you - is the plywood platform supported by the rods slightly proud of the (presumably suspended) wooden floor or did you place it on top of the floor and tighten the bolts on the rods to clamp it to the floor?
I’m just using the forum search tool to find these. Albeit recalling that QS has posted a few times before about it. If you search for things like “@quicksticks platform” you’ll find posts by the member in question, about the string after their name
Here is my post from February when we put the platform in.
It looks like the platform is touching the floor because of the carpet edge, but it is truly clear of the structure. Even the holes the steel dowels go through are 4cm in diameter for good clearance.
Anyway @anon55098131 - from what I recall you have a long history of Naim ownership? And I hope I do recall correctly. Ignoring the nature of the rack, plus the fact QS has already said the two racks might swap places. As per the thread title, any comments regarding the stacking order?
OK thanks for that. That’s good to know. My primary concern was that the platform was touching the floor but I see you’ve got it well thought out.
The only issue I can see is that you’ve in effect created a sort of ‘sub-stand’ beneath your Fraim and other stand. This will have unpredictable effects and will necessarily have it’s own set of resonances. The steel rods look to be of rather small diameter and my worry would be, especially with the huge weight of equipment it is supporting, lack of rigidity in the overall structure. One way around this would be to add metal tubes (pipes in effect) of higher diameter around the rods so that the platform clamps, via the rods, onto these. This would add substantially to the structural rigidity and weight bearing capacity and would be pretty simple to implement - although you might need to enlarge the floor holes a bit. if you really wanted to go to town you could even fill the void in the pipes around the rods with an inert filler like sand or speaker stand filler in order to deaden resonances. Also maybe look at using something like Peek plastic washers instead of metal ones. This would also help to tame resonances.
Just a few suggestions / refinements to maybe think about. But look, if it all works and you’re happy then just leave well alone.
PS. Ideally - and it’s perhaps a somewhat drastic solution - dispense with the platform/sub-stand completely. Cut a hole in the floor to accommodate the racks and buy an additional tall Frame level that rests on the concrete base and supports the equipment above floor level.