Hi Xanthe
I hope all is well with you.
And that the voluntary work you’re doing is going well.
I am homeschooling my 3 kids and working full time with the daily highs and lows of all that.
But one definite high was today I turned my rack around and added a sheet of glass and 3 of the 5mm silicone nitride balls on three similar looking steel nuts under the 272.
A definite improvement in sq.
So thank you once again for sharing this great design idea.
Very best wishes
Jim
In the pic in the previous post, you can see that I have 2 Quadraspire Q4 EVO racks, both bought SH for £200 in total.
One with glass shelves and thin columns, the other with oak shelves and thick columns.
The 3 Naim components will end up being suspended on 10mm toughened glass shelves on the 3 ball system discussed on this thread.
No Naim component should go on the top shelf (because kids).
I have 3 switches too - which are not likely to be removed from these shelves (unless someone can persuade me that there’s a Big SQ benefit in doing so).
So I need to decide:
Should I have the 272 on one rack and the 555DR and 150x on another?
Should I swap the oak and glass shelves to use them with the other set of columns? I imagine that the glass rack shelves would provide a more flat and stable base for the isolated glass component shelves than the wooden ones.
I know the answer is ‘try it and see’. But actually tearing these 2 racks apart and putting them back together is hours of work and I’m doing a full time job plus full time homeschooling, so I’d rather not do it unless there’s a good chance it will sound better.
So perhaps try the 272 on the glass rack (and its glass isolated shelf) as a first step?
With the PD and PoE Ciscos together on the bottom shelf of the glass rack to get them away from the Naim gear?
And maybe get the one Cisco that has an internal psu onto the bottom shelf of the other (brawn) rack?
Hi Jim,
I can definitely respond for that. The 555 ps should be on one rack, the 272 and 150 on another.
I discovered that 1 year ago, from this forum. I put all my ps on a different rack than my pre/ nds/ 250 dr. However the Melco doesn’t fit in my Fraimlite, so on same rack as the 555 dr.
I made a very positive uplift. I could not believe. Less grain, softer and more fluent sound.
Great thanks FR
I’ll sort that out over the next few days.
I suppose that’s because the 555DR vibrates because of its large transformer, etc.
So maybe I should put the 555DR near the top of the glass rack with the Ciscos on the bottom of the glass rack?
And keep the 272 and 150x separated as far as possible on the oak rack?
For me the 555 dr needs more isolation than my nds, and 250 dr. Perhaps you could try the 555 dr on the glass shelf with nitride balls, the Cisco under it, and 272/ 150 on other rack?
The most important however is the 555 dr not being on the same rack as 272 and 150.
Good idea.
Will try that.
I have the other 2 glass shelves under my speakers at the moment.
But I will get those spiked again thru the carpet and then I can isolate all 3 Naim components on glass shelves and silicon nitride balls.
Glass shelves under the speakers? Never heard such match. Are you sure it’s a good idea?
I would try, if not wanting to pay a lot, 5cm hard wood plinths under the speakers. 40 cm/ 40 cm. The tonality of the glass with speakers is perhaps not the most natural ( a bit bright?.
Does it work for you the glass under speakers?
Yes, the glass shelves are just a holding pattern under the speakers (SL2s).
They sound very bright but also very clear.
First I tried the speakers on 2 x 10mm slate roof tiles, which sounded more matt/dark.
Then I siked them into the conrete floor, but the underside was too close to the carpet and it killed the life in the music.
Then 2 40cm square concrete tiles, but they sounded like sludge.
So I might try the carpet again with longer spikes?
And perhaps Fraim chips?
Or marble slabs?
Or some kind of isoacoustic type bases?
Overall, though, the speakers sound great, a big uplift over the Arivas.
Isoacoustics Gaia. You can read the thread. 99% of members are very satisfied. And not expensive too.
You can buy on Amazon and return if not satisfied.
Has anyone tried Corian shelves? A very experienced Naim friend suggested using under source.
All dents done, 1 slight double strike, 1 slightly light strike, all the rest perfect and consistent, and even these two would still be fine to use. (They are marked up in red, water based ink.)
Thanks for waiting and tolerating my delays; as a thank you I’m going to include a set of 3d printed ball retainer cages for you (these are now being printed).
Thank you so much, Xanthe.
I am so lucky to be able to enjoy your original design.
I’ll have to think what to put my SL2s on when I get those glass shelves out from under them?
They do sound very clear.
I’m tempted to get some glass slabs made up for the speakers, say 25 or 30mm thick?
Maybe that would retain the clarity but be a bit darker in tone?
Or marble?
Anyway, I hope you’re well and have been enjoying the sunshine 
Best wishes
Jim
The 25 / 30mm thick glass sounds like an interesting experiment. My laminated ceramic plinths (450x450 ceramic floor tile / 4 high density blocks from inside a night storage heater / another floor tile) certainly work with my speakers in my room.
Did you just glue those layers together with something like Araldite?
I seem to remember that you described making them on the old Forum.
Are the blocks about 60mm thick?
I used a modified silane adhesive.
All bits produced and internal packing arranged, tomorrow I hope to pack it into the outer envelope for post and get them off to you.
Incidentally leaving the bottoms of them rough ground is intentional: it helps to stop the brass cups sliding around too much and makes them easier to position.
Thank you, Xanthe.
That’s very helpful.
When I get them I’ll follow your instructions above on leveling the bases of the cups and smoothing off the dents.
No need, I’ve already done that!
Wow, Xanthe.
Thank you so much.
You are a ray of sunshine.
All the various ways I was likely to break stuff and get it wrong have now been removed from my ham-fisted reach in the vicarious DIY project!
Very best wishes
Jim
Been reading this topic with interest having done a fair bit of experimenting myself! Photos follow of a stand I made from American white oak a few years back. It was loosely modelled on stands made by Steve at HiFiFoFum in Toronto who I met and had a great chat with over Xmas.
Glass is to Naim Fraim specs and dimensions. Initially I tried using Allen Keyed bolts with the threaded portion sawn off holding 10mm steel ball bearings. It worked well but then I landed on cutting a spherical dish into the stand itself and placing the ball bearing in that - thus the glass is free to move laterally but constrained vertically within the cup. This substantially improved the sound and I’m very happy with the results. The flexible mount was a little disconcerting during the Kaikoura earthquake a few years back when all the Naim boxes were as if mounted on jelly - interestingly the Naim boxes were in fact “still” and it was the stand that was moving…
Spikes and feet are from Track Audio.
