Fraim w/Linn Radical/Urika

You may wish to know that the Radikal in an Akurate chasis does not sit well on Fraim - physically it's too deep!

So you either have it protruding at the front or you have it on the top shelf (as I have).  That, however presents you with a challenge for siting your LP12 (mine is on a wall shelf above).

If only Linn didn't run their cables out so centrally, things would be a whole lot better... but they do !

I strongly suggest you try before buy, and if you're anywhere near Chester, you're welcome to look at my set up.

Roger

You can try Neutrik right angle plugs 

Oh man, say it isn't so. I didn't realize the depth limitations with the Fraim.  A wall shelf will not pass the SAC (spouse approval committee).

Maybe I'll keep what I've got for now and sell one rack.  

Once I get the urge to upgrade and add more boxes I'll get two Fraim's and join the Brain & Brawn crowd.

Would the Radical interfere with a 272 on the shelf below? Should the Radical be put on the lower shelf in my 4 shelf Z rack?

As Chris Dolan says, you can use Neutrik right angle plugs. I had a Radikal / Urika combination installed earlier this month by Peter Swain and I have the Radikal on the bottom shelf of my brains stack of Fraim. Peter replaced both plugs with right angle Neutrik plugs. This didn't involve any soldering, just swapping over of the plug housings.

So don't worry, you CAN use Radikal on Naim Fraim.

+1 for the Neutrik right angled plug. That's what I have and my Radikal/Akurate sits on the bottom of my Fraim rack with absolutely no problems at all, doesn't stick out, plenty of clearance. 

blownaway

Lol.  Have you tried the Sabrina's with your ARC gear ?

Nope, but I imagine they would be a fine matchup. 

Do you have a link to the part you're referring too?  Is it easy for a dealer to convert back to original if resale purposes? 

Does the glass shelf on the Fraim give you less Radikal interference with other Naim gear vs the Framelight? I'm not sure the Faim is worth the added cost over the Fraimlight.

As I recall the original plug on my Radikal was a Neutrik straight plug anyway. I got the right-angled version via Colin Macey at What You See And Hear when I had some other stuff done. But he didn't have one in stock at the time and I didn't want to wait to listen to my "new" turntable. So I took it home with the straight plug (and yes it stuck out), got the right angled one in the post and fitted it myself. Five minutes, no soldering (it's just the casing that you swap out). So yes, I would say any dealer would be able to swap it back. 

Ask your Linn dealer for the Neutrik plug part number. Alternatively, I suspect Peter may have identified it in his LP12 set up guides on the Scottish forum. Or even give Peter or Colin a call. 

Regarding resale, I can't see that the resale value would be affected as I understand the mod has been approved by Linn. But then again, why would you ever wish to sell a Radikal?!

Great advice, thank you. I have this set-up.

In my experience the smps of the Radikal doesn´t pose much of a problem in a Naim system. I have the Radikal connected through my Hydra with the rest of my Naim gear. I have tested the Radikal on a different outlet and IMO it did not sound better. But I don´t have a dedicated circuit for the hifi.

I got the advice on this forum to not put the Radikal directly below or above naim gear with large power supply on my Fraim shelf. I then tried out the empty shelf between the Radikal and SN2 instead of between the LP12 and Radikal. It sounded much better this way, ie Radikal with emty shelf between the SN2. I now have the Radikal on the shelf below the LP12.

The effect of the smps is very easy to demonstrate, as it was when my dealer first showed me. This assumes you have a separate dedicated mains supply to the hifi taken off the tails before the home consumer unit. If not then you won't hear any difference as there is already too much interference to notice. With the Radikal plugged into the hifi circuit just play a CD or stream a song and, whilst listening, unplug the Radikal. The improvement and lack of hash is obvious. 

Hi there, 

just curious, why are you getting rid of your Audio Research Reference gear? Is it a sonic or lifestyle change?

best regards

Mostly a lifestyle change & aesthetic reasons.  I expect I'll prefer my new gear over my old.  We are going to do a major basement remodel in the next year and wish to reduce the number of components and rack space. I loved my ARC gear but I want to make a change.  I'm fortunate to have this opportunity.  I'm going from a 6 pc full sized 2 rack system to a 4 pc (NAC272/200DR/LinnRadical/LinnLP12) one rack solution (or shorter double rack with room for video). 

Would a large power supply be ie-200DR amp, XPS, SN2. What about the NAC272, does this pc have   a large power supply?

With the Quadrashire SVT stand I have the option to build the stand with taller 7" shelf vs a 5.5". I wonder if a little more open space vs a whole empty shelf between the Radikal and the other gear would give you the same result. 

Last of all if I decide on 2 shorter shelves, does it matter if a component like the SN2 or 200DR is right next to the Radikal but on a different stand (same eye level, different stand & shelf) ?  

 I´d say that all those Naim components should be kept away from the Radikal and LP12. If the distance between is made up of an emty shelf or just more open space doesn´t matter. The 272 would be ok on a shelf directly under the Radikal if powered by a separate power supply.  If using Fraim I would prefer five shelves with, from top to bottom, LP12- Radikal-empty shelf-272-200dr. In fact that is what I have now but with SN2 and UQ2 on the bottom shelves. If using two different stands I don´t think it would a problem to have Radikal and Naim components side by side. Remember that the transformers are on the right side of most Naim components. So sensitive components should be kept at the left side.

The LP12 sounds fantastic on top of a Fraim. I would never have a top spec LP12 with anything else than a Fraim to support it. That said, I haven´t really tried out many alternatives.

In case it helps, here is a picture of three boxes on a bamboo SVT, with the bronze spikes under the top level for added isolation. The legs are the 140mm versions. 

Thanks for the help on this.  I'm glad to know I can make it work with a 4 shelf SV2 shand (or Fraim).

Now I'm most interested  in a 3 shelf Quadraspire SV2T stand with a bronze upgrade on one side (hope I can do this). This only takes up 43.5" width vs 2 Fraim or SV2 stands.  In this case I would have 2 open shelves plus a space on top of one side-so room for 3 more Naim or ? black boxes  

This is a great looking stand. I'm thinking of a SV2T with one of the bronze upgrades if possible something like this...More gear options down the road

If you do go this route, make sure you get the bamboo version, as it sounds a lot better, for very little more money. Leaving space for the XPS is a very good idea. If you go for the double width version of what I have, there is room for the Naim boxes on the right, with the Linns on the left. The extra top shelf and spikes give just enough separation of the 272 from its power supply beneath, while still looking neat and compact. And the Burndy cable just clears the carpet. 

I agree, bamboo this the way to go. I just got off the phone with the wholesaler and he said I could go with on bronze upgrade on just one side.  Doing so would still leave 17" clear for gear on the other top shelf.  

They also told me I could buy a whole shelf on the top and add the bronze upgrade (price is 1.5 X bronze hardware plus the shelf cost). This might look a little better and give me the bronze benefit for 2 components. 

They also mentioned that with the 140mm spacing columns and since I'm needing a 3 shelf SV2T I don't need an additional shelf at all with the bronze upgrade and the hardware screws right into to posts.  I'm not sure about this idea from a looks standpoint but it would save me the cost of a shelf. No performance gains with the extra shelf given this 3 shelf 140mm spacing config. so it's a solid option as well.

Black bamboo, may be ordered as well with a 2-3 month wait.  Not sure I want this but I bet it's pretty cool too.

Is your rack with 140mm columns spacing?

That would be a pretty sweet set up with the LP12 on the bronze upgrade shelf top right side, Radikal on the bottom right, then the 272 on the top left on bronze upgrade self, and the 200DR on the bottom left.  Is there another config you recommend?