Equipment Support

I tried the cheaper Podium Slimline and it was awful, giving a slow and leaden sound. The more expensive rack with the separate levels will I'm sure be better, but beware of the square screw in legs, because to get them tight they may end up not square, and therefore look daft. 

I'd be inclined to try the Quadraspire Q4 in bamboo, which is very good. The SVT is a lot better still, but costs about the same as Fraimlite. 

I have Podium Reference and I am very happy with it. The build quality is great and with my modest system I can't complain about the sound quality either although I know it's not comparable to what fraim could offer. Another plus side is the customer service HiFi Racks provide. The term second to none is often used quite loosely but these people really deserve it – best I ever got from any manufacturer or dealer. 

I am also in the market for a new 4 tier rack but can't get the other half to agree on the Fraimlite (it looks too industrial apparently !!) so was thinking of the Atacama Eco 60-40 special Edition which definitely looks the business and seems to be technically advanced (and gets the wife vote) but not sure of it's sonic abilities with modest XS Naim kit.

Any advise/experience would be gratefully received.

Sorry but missed out the Evoque pre fix on my earlier post

Hungryhalibut posted:

I'd be inclined to try the Quadraspire Q4 in bamboo, which is very good. The SVT is a lot better still, but costs about the same as Fraimlite. 

+1

Hanumike.... I noticed at the Bristol show today the Atcama hi fi rack range, the model that utilises glass shelves on top of the wood ,it looked very smart, and not overly expensive compared to naim fraim .

Reviews suggest it's a good rack and the dealer I use also uses the same company.

AngloWelsh posted:

With Naim Fraim and Fraimlite being beyond my budget for a 5 tier support, does anyone have any experience/views of Hifi Racks Ltd Podium XL supports. They seem well made and look good, and at half the price of the Fraimlite look good value to.

Thanks also for your suggestions for upgrade to amplification last week. NAC 282/Hicap on the way!!

Regards

I'm currently waiting for two bespoke 5-shelf Podium Reference racks to support my new Naim System. One rack is full width for my Manticore Mantra, N272, QNAP HS-251+ NAS drive, 250DR and Manticore MB6 power supply. The second rack is half-width to support my Stageline, Cyrus CD6  and Hi-Cap. I shall be using their isolation platforms for every level that has equipment on it.  I'm having the racks made this way so they will fit in an alcove that's only 1m wide.

The racks have a very high WAF and their finishes will be the same as my speakers (oak).

They do take a while to be made, though. I would probably have my system installed and running by now if they could be made as quickly as the electronics.

I'm toying with the idea of getting their matching speaker stands (for the Neat Motive SX3's that I bought for a second system yesterday), AV rack and record/DVD storage, but they need to substantially reduce their delivery charges for me to do so.

Atacama is fine, probably not in the same league as Fraimlite, Quadraspire, Hutter et al. The only problem, as far as I'm concerned, is that the bottom shelf is just too high, and I think you can't change that. The whole assembly is thus much higher than necessary, especially with the XS range (a lot of space above the FCXS, for instance - which is not a bad thing from a technical point of view, I suppose.

I'd give Quadraspire a go. The Q4 Bamboo gives much better results than it should for the money. It has a lovely balanced organic sound that seems to suit Naim. Stick some naim chips under the spikes and you get another nice lift in SQ.