Fraim, Power Line or Hi Line

If I am happy with how my music sounds I will leave it alone. If curiosity got the better of me, based on my experience only, with the benefit of hindsight it would be HiLine first, Fraim second and PL last. But that's in my perfect world. Any of your candidates should effect a change and it is likely to be a change for the better.

I don't see how you can use a hiline, so that's £600 saved. 

Obvious now you say it!

Go PL then. Quick, easy and resellable, although it's unlikely you will want to.

Who'd have thought you'd come out of this thread richer?

I believe it is possible to make Hiline 4-4 by special order. Someone?

Where does it fit. 4 pin out on the V1. 4 pin in on the 200 ?

A hiline connects source to preamp, not preamp to power amp. So in this system, a hiline is not relevant.

No. You cannot use a hiline, period. You connect the V1 and power amp with a Snaic, NOT a hiline. 

The standard SNAIC will be just fine. No reason to spend anything more, IME

ATB from George

If you think it sensible to spend $1200 to connect a $2400 component to another...

You can get a $2500 chord sarum tuned aray snaic. ;-)

@jude2012  Best upgrade is stillpoints.  Keep in mind I havent tried any of the Naim upgrades but I have to believe the stillpoints for ~325 USD is best bang for buck.  Try them... 

why are you not using NACA 5?

The naim sound is so finely tuned, I would not bother with anything not naim.

the NAP responds very well to a PL.

I would say it's essential.

buy more music

I compared DAC-V1/NAP 100 on Fraim and Fraim Lite: Fraim was way much better. Simply more of everything. The comparison was done using a CDX2 with DC1 as source and the power cables that come with the components. Powering both components with a Powerline improved things even further. To me Fraim and Powerlines are great upgrades for this wonderful combination.

Ok, you heard them, it's simple, buy everything.

the upgrade is simple NACA5

I find Chord Odyssey 2 very effective, and it's actually very similar to A5 in its character. As the Epic is a shielded version of Odyssey i.e. with the same conductors, I can't see any reason to change. 

I use Quadraspire  Evo 4, having owned Fraim and Isoblue in the past. I switched from Isoblue simply because I wanted something with bigger gaps between the shelves as the SU gets rather warm, and the Isoblue extenders look weird. But you should not have that issue, so I'd recommend Isoblue to you. Hutter is another fine choice. 

One thing with Fraim is that the shelves have a cutout, which means they look odd if nothing is on the top shelf (I have a lamp on top of my Evo 4) or if the top item is small (like a V1), so you may wish to consider that. 

So I'd sort out the stand first, then get a Powerline or two. You can often get them exdem or lightly used for £300 or so, which is a much more palatable price to pay.

@pcstockton and @Hungrgyhalibut...

Thanks for the insights.  I have booked a home demo for a PL from the my dealer for later in November.

My feelings regarding NACA vs Epic is also that it is not with the change (at this point).  Also, it would mean messing with the jumpers on the speakers too (I have Chord Signature for that).

Regarding the equipment stand - I have discounted the Isoblue due to its looks (OK, I know this is on a par with my current Atacama 'bench').

Quadraspire and Hutter look interesting and will check them out (I am sure that one of the local dealers has these, else at the Bristol Hifi show?).  My thoughts regarding the Fraim was to have a Fraim base and one standard shelf, and a standard Fraim Lite for the TV on top.  The question is where to place the Mac mini? I am also told that the wood colours are slightly different between Fraim and Fraim Lite (willing to overlook this).

So, the stands are gonna take some time before I select and then buy.

Good tip regarding the PLs ex demo etc.  However, as the PL is easy to demo (and hence decide), cheaper and easy to implement, it is highly likely to be upgraded before the Fraim.  Does this mean I would not hear the benefit of the PL?

Any thoughts would be welcome...

Jude  

I added a Powerline to my SuperUniti and found a huge improvement, and that's with the US sitting on a humble Quadraspire. 

When I had a big system years ago, I had two stacks of Fraim, which nowadays would cost about £5,000. But I don't believe it provides good value for money with more basic equipment such as the SU, or indeed the V1/200. Fraim lite is no doubt better than the Quadraspire, but at three times the price.

I've also had Isoblue, and that is close to Fraim, but if you don't like its looks there's no point investigating it.