That’s interesting Mike_S. Some here say that a Fraim is the equivalent of a black box upgrade. The problem here of course is that it may prove difficult to home demo one. I guess it’s one of those items where you would take everyones opinion for it and just buy one and hope it all works out. Not saying it won’t but you get my drift. A black box upgrade is more of a dead cert as it were…
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That’s handy to know. Yes i may have to wait for that right moment. The one i’ve seen does seem a little excessive, considering when you factor in it’s age also. Thanks.
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I’ll check that out, sounds interesting. I asked my dealer whether a Fraim Lite could be purchased first and then slowly, shelf by shelf, be upgraded to a full fat Fraim, apparently not. It’s full fat or nothing. 
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Naim power supplies don’t appear to hold their value like the rest of their gear. And I can see why.
The 555 PSU looks like brut force ( hugely oversized TX and capacitors, ) and a clever low noise regulator per rail.
Certainly a xpsdr can be had for half retail, albeit 2 years old, mint, ex demo. And 555 ( non dr’s) for about £3k. But they would most likely need a service. And dr’ing them is expensive!
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I like the full hex ( stainless?) nuts between the glass and timber!
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Try Solid Sounds or HiFi racks for a more flexible solution.
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Yes, stainless balls and nuts 
. About $100 for those. About $500 for the glass.
I went stainless after seeing the rusted ones on the dealers $6,000 Fraim.
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And there’s me using rubber tap ( faucet) washers and balls!
Hardly an engineered solution, but the rubber may be better at isolating the transmission of sound to/from the electronics?
Although doubt you could hear a difference though!
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If it were me I’d get a secondhand Fraim first, and not be too fussy about the colour. With an XPS or 555 you hit Burndy issues. For best performance it needs to be off the floor. With the NDX on the top and the PS on the bottom you need a base and three (I think) standard shelves to make it work. I suspect that with a Fraim you might be happy with the NDX as is, especially as there have been a few reports that the XPS doesn’t add that much.
There are Fraim doubters of course, but do take the comments about getting nearly as good results from a sideboard with sheets of glass and a few steel balls with a pinch of salt if they are made by people who have never actually tried a Fraim for themselves. It really is very good and will get the best from what you have already. I bought my used Fraim, with a base and three shelves for £1,000 and yes, the improvement can be as big or bigger than a box upgrade. Think of it as part of the system, not simply something to put it on. Far better to spend the £1,000 now and possibly avoid a much bigger sum. And if you get the PS later, you’ll know it’s working at its best. Up to you of course, but this is just my honest advice based on what I’ve learned through real experience rather than speculation.
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And do take comments about the XPS DR not adding much to the NDX2 with a pinch of salt if made by someone who hasn’t tried it, at home, in their system
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That’s of course absolutely true. I was simply recounting what a couple of others had reported based on their own trials. I must say it rather surprised me as I found the XPS to make a big difference to a CDX2 I once owned, and the 272 when I used it on that.
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Another factor is whether you use headphones often, as the XPS would likely be most beneficial there?
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Yes i listen through my headphones quite often, albeit from my SN3 built in stage, which i find very pleasurable and easily enough for my usage. A separate headphone stage, although i’m sure is very desirable, just isn’t practical enough in my living space here. My SN3 will have to make do, which is no crying shame i suppose. I can see where you’re coming from here with the addition of a PSU for the NDX 2 in that regard.
Decisions, decisions, decisions : do i go for the XPS DR and slum it with the racking for a while? or do i go as HH says and get the Fraim first and hold back for a well priced ex-demo XPS DR i stead? I suppose the right thing to do now is to ring my dealer and see if i can book a slot and discuss this further. Maybe even get to hear what the XPS DR brings to the NDX 2.
Back soon!
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It’s always great spending someone else’s money. Borrow and listen at home with the psu. Borrowing a Fraim will be harder. I get the piece about isolation of electronics and their micophony. A Fraim will look nice. But there maybe similar offerings for less money. Albeit without any substantiation behind the engineering. I.e. “trust us”!
Naim will have this substantiation.
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Thanks guys!
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Guys I have never said the XPS didn’t make “any” difference but what it did in relation to what it cost I heard far bigger sonic improvements adding a Fraim and huge uplift adding the SL interconnect.
The NDX2 has way way more quality within and the ability to deliver bare with the addition of the proper support, interconnect and power supplies!
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See if you can demo the NDX2 with SL interconnect on Fraim bare vs NDX2,XPSDR with the interconnect you currently use and on whatever type or rack you use.
Bet you are surprised by the outcome.
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Thanks popeye. I have a slot booked in for tomorrow at my dealer. I will try to hear (if practically possible) all the other options open to me as well. I’m in broad agreement with yourself, in that a bare NDX 2 is phenomenally good. I’m sat here now listening to it bare and i just cannot find fault with it anywhere in the musical spectrum. A XPS DR, for now, seems over board. Oh well, i shall soon find out tomorrow.
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Can you get a home demo for a week or so? A/B comparisons not so helpful at this level ime.
You need time to do some relaxed listening to a variety of music within your system & home.
G
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