I just can't do it!

You won't regret when you sit back at home and enjoy the music.

hi woodface,

maybe you should check out germany's naim-distributor www.music-line-hifi.de who's got some interesting affordable racks in his portfolio - also fraim. otherwise: go for the m6 and enjoy your pictures while listening to your system. it is a great camera. and the lenses...... superb. even a mana stand might look great if you take a picture of it with a m6. :-)

Hi Woodface,

I too had the same idea when I bought the Naim set back in November last year. Actually it was my wife who told me to go and get the Fraim because whe thought it was beautiful piece of furniture.

My rack is rather prominent in the livingroom (on purpose), and I have to admit, apart from the superb sonic quality, the make is also superb. I found an investment worthwhile. It really does something to the system, visually, but also soundwise.

Arthur

You could try ash designs.

Paul Stephenson; £1500 is a lot of money although I do confess to spending more on other items. Bas V; the 4 shelfer looks like a step ladder. I think the basic problem is that I am very happy with my system and the need for a new rack is not so much sonic as practical. I need something more compact and ideally modular, something that will be a slight improvement on my current Target stand. I may well ultimately go for the fraim but may wait a while.

Use your ears and not your eyes, and then make your decision.

This is not about furniture - you are not buying a cabinet to house your DVD collection!

Regards,

Steve.

The proof of the pudding...

You've got to live with the thing. It's usually in the main living room (ok some hotshots have music rooms but most don't) and it's a real bonus if it's presentable! I find that the rack takes over the viewpoint of the observer too. So if you have a nice looking rack it doesn't matter that the kit looks nondescript or sexy.

In the case of the Fraim, it looks GREAT and the kit looks really good on it too.

Regards,
Frank.
All opinions are my own and do not reflect the opinion of any organisations I work for, except where this is stated explicitly.

Mr Woodface.

Forking out £1500.00 for a Fraim may seem an expensive whim, but it will last you for a long time.

It has a very high WAF and it makes the music sound more natural than any other rack in existance.

It serves the dual purpose of enhancing the appearance of your home and making your equipment sound good.

If you buy anything else, you will regret it.

Just look at the competition.

Quadspire....looks like a cheap 1950's tea trolley. It wobbles and looks a mess. Conjures up an image of an old beatnik with a beard and a smelly jumper listening to crap music, reading crap magazines.

Mana..Ugly dust trapping, oil rig. Zero WAF and sound does not suit everyone. Ok in a warehouse but not a lounge.

Sound Org.......a Joke

Isoblue.....looks a crude DIY job.

Hutter...good but not as good as Fraim.

I rest my case

Regards

Mick

Kit, if the quality of the rack is like the quality of the website, then best left!

If you do a search on fraim here you will find a link to a German review of the pagode and the fraim side by side.

quote:

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Mana..Ugly dust trapping, oil rig. Zero WAF

---

Mick

good as the Fraim is, if you are objective you will find that it harbours at least as much dust as Mana. Come to think of it, so too does your Hutter - it's just harder to see on timber than on glass.

As for zero WAF - I think that statement must be tempered with "in the Parry household". By now you must have read bordering on fifty or more posts between this and the Mana forum where Significant Other's prefer mana for appearance - we won't get embroiled into the sound stakes here, lest this thread descends into another bloody stand thread.

In fact, since setting up the kit on mana, I estimate at least 80% of visitors to our home (that fall into any "WAF" categories) have got up, walked over to the stand, exclaimed how smart, nice, stylish it looked, and asked about it. Which is somewhat unusual, as we don't generally discuss de hifi with de visitors, nor has the kit been discussion subject at these times.



Rico - SM/Mullet Audio

...my wife definitely preferred Fraim over Mana.

She said the Mana would be OK down in the "rec room".

- GregB

Insert Witty Signature Line Here

Rico

Look in the photograph.....bloody thing is covered in dust....its even jumped on your kit.

Regards

Mick

quote:

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Quadspire....looks like a cheap 1950's tea trolley. It wobbles and looks a mess. Conjures up an image of an old beatnik with a beard and a smelly jumper listening to crap music, reading crap magazines.

---

Hutter... looks like a kind of dysfunctional sub-Ikea bookshelf that someone has raised up the shelves on some shiny bits left over from when the taps were plumbed in. Conjures up an image of an old spirit drinker admiring a rather disturbing teapot placed on the top shelf, whilst listening to dreadful background muzak in the Brightman / TV soundtrack vein, and flicking aimlessly through the latest Daily Mail ‘Royals are lovely, honest…’ colour supplement.

Tony.

Your spikes are unusually high are they not?

...looked at that as well. Can never beat the Fraim, except in price. Think ROI (return on investment)

You bet yer, Mick!

Here's my setup..



(The gas keeps everything at optimal operating temperature)

Steve

quote:

---

To the original query -- I wonder whether it makes sense to site the system far away from the speakers, preferably in another room or closet. This should go a long way towards "isolating" the equipment without having to spend lots of cash on an expensive stand.

---

Saving a system from itself regarding microphony is not the only thing a decent stand will do. If that were the case, then surely the benefits would only be heard at higher volumes?

Even using headphones, you derive sonic benefits from decent supports under your electronics. If this were not the case, we could all place our kit on the floor, but have our speakers on Mana Phase 97! ( With a very high ceiling and a high listening chair )

Regards,

Steve.

The proof of the pudding...

Believe none of what you read and trust what you hear. In terms of WAF, nothing touches Fraim I have to admit, and I'd have been sorely tempted had it been a bit cheaper. Saying that, if you're contemplating a Leica M6 (which is expensive too) you obviously don't balk at paying for quality (and are badge conscious too, else you'd buy a Voigtlander and a tatty Summicron) so why not go Fraim?

Nonetheless, go hear your Manas, your Isoblues, my choice the QS Ref, Hutter, etc. etc.

If you don't decide yourself, you'll never know if what you bought is right for you...

TC '..'
"Girl, you thought he was a man, but he was a Muffin..."

Mick, how did you know that I am an old beatnik with a beard and a smelly jumper listening to crap music, reading crap magazines?

You are one damn spooky guy.

Ooooh, a Mana thread, and now we're oiling Leicas in with the pastels. Come on Vuk, launch number three!

Rico - SM/Mullet Audio

Thank you all for your kind replies. I am not averse to shelling out when the need arises and I have bought an expensive hi-fi after all. I think I am going to look at something in £500- £600 range and then I can also afford the Leica! If I went for the fraim then the camera would be a no no. I think we all need to get out more, spending £1500 on a stand is pure madness perhaps I have reached the end of the audio-madness cycle. Take your points regarding the fraims appearance, it is very fine, WAF though is not as high as with the isoblue.

It may be upgradable but it is not modular. Oh and TC there is more to the M6 than badge alone!

Mick old friend

quote:

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Look in the photograph.....bloody thing is covered in dust....its even jumped on your kit.

---

My point is that in a given environment, there's the same amount of dust on your kit/stand whether Mana, Fraim, Quadraspire, Hutter etc. You just don't know it's there on that ikea-replica.

Additionally, in my defense, the flash on my camera accentuates the dust - you don't normally see it with ambient lighting.

Rico - SM/Mullet Audio