Fraim on the way

Don

Do you want to sell your Mana rack? email me at tuan6084@rogers.com and are you in Toronto area?

I'm in Calgary; but sorry, it's already spoken for.
Don

Don

A bit 'off topic' but...........

I returned to a friend's place last night, having helped him to install his system on Fraim about a month ago.

Didn't sound as good as I remembered.

Then I spotted that he had a steel cased NAD tuner under the 82. Took it out and his 3 visitors jaws dropped.

It was not plugged into the 82 by the way. It was the presence of the ferrous lump that was messing things up.

The sound gained grace, pace, and space and lost that nasty grainy constrained sound that lumps of steel cause.

I kid you not.

Happy listening.

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all the excitement of mana but with much more ease and depth. Instruments character and string sounds are more obvious and it goes down lower too!

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Slim, is this from personal experience? I am also excitedly awaiting delivery of a Fraim this week and am keen to hear from others who have gone from Mana to Fraim.

JN, any other tips on installing Fraim or is it just a case of following the instructions?

Bruce,

From personal experience...I found the Fraim made my Mana sound out-of-phase and quite mechanical. There's simply no comparison between the two IMO.

Some Fraim setup tips:

1. Tighten all fasteners as tight as the supplied tools allow. The breaker bar may bend and you may strip or "round-off" the spanner...good...you've applied enough force.

2. Recheck fastener tightness in 3 weeks (they'll be loose). Retighten and check in three months and again in six months. Sounds like a pain? Not at all. As you'll see, once you've set them up for the first time their modular construction makes future setup/breakdowns a breeze.

3. Make sure none of the shelf cones touch the cup walls. Clearance is tight but you soon get the feel with forwards and backwards movement of a shelf. ("Slide" the shelves into final position when they are loaded with gear).

4. Position cables so they don't touch any of the vertical uprights. (Be especially wary of NACA5 touching the rear upright).

5. I understand centering the ball-bearing sockets so they don't touch the shallow walls of their routed locating holes sounds better. (Never seemed to make a difference with my rig.)


6.Position the glass so it's precisely flush with the front edge of it's shelf. Position the box atop so it's precisley flush with the front edge of the glass.

All of the items above affect the sound noticeably (except #5 with my rig). When funds allow, purchase a spare Fraim shelf assembly (which will remain empty of boxes or glass) to place underneath your existing source component shelf for improved performance.


hth,

dave

You will get a lot of music instead of a mecanical presentation and then woounder how You could think of Mana as musical. Everything from my own experience.

/Erik

Bruce

Naim's advice is 'not too tight'.

To get the base level settled and level on carpet. first (gently) stand on each 'corner' then put a sheet of glass directly on the wood, and pile a couple of 250's etc: onto it, to do the levelling.

This stops carpet lifting the spikes.

Feel the spike points into the centre of the cups on all levels.

And don't forget to polish your balls!

Hi J.N.,

I hope Naim will define "not to tight" in the setup guide with a torque rating. My Fraims seem to sound their best when fully tightened up (just below the point of destroying materials ;-). Maybe my floor comes into play here (thin carpet on a concrete slab).

regards,

dave

Are you sure it was a "NAIM REP" that said that? if he was and not a fake, he must of spent too much time at the Naim factory in the glue room

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Originally posted by Tuan:
Don

Do you want to sell your Mana rack? email me at tuan6084@rogers.com and are you in Toronto area?

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TUAN, I THINK YOU OWN MANA, or a least part of the company
Steve

NOT TOO TIGHT

Do not under any circumstance tighten until the spanner bends you will cut through the veneer. This leads to the need to keep retightening. My dealer advised me to use only firm pressure with the pad of the thumb

I agree you should never overtighten any part of the Fraim.

Take your time ..it is not a job to rush. Once you get the base levels completely level upon first installation (J.N.'s tips here are valuable) any maintainence, future tightening, addtition of extra levels etc will be a simple matter.

If you are using two sets of Fraim, keep all your power on one side and the players, preamps etc on the other. You may find you have no choice as to which side to put each group of equipment due to restraints on connection sockets and length of cables supplied. For what it's worth, I had to put my powered equipment on the left and others on the right. (using CDSii/552/500)

Thanks, everybody, for the interesting replies. No definitive advice as to how tight is tight then. Hopefully it will become apparent when I put it all together.

Just to explain my situation, I got Mana before Fraim was available, so I have never done a comparison. Neither am I unhappy with the Mana but, when the chance of this S/H Fraim came up, I just had to get it to hear for myself.

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Originally posted by hi fi fo fum:

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Originally posted by Tuan:
Don

Do you want to sell your Mana rack? email me at tuan6084@rogers.com and are you in Toronto area?

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TUAN, I THINK YOU OWN MANA, or a least part of the company
Steve

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Laugh ... Good try Steve. Have a good trip to England and say hi to the Mana Boss for me. Tuan.

Don,
I have my Fraim for 1 month now.
I have upgraded on a short period with a 2nd Hicap for my 82 and a 250.
One thing I can say is that the Fraim brought coherence to the system. Music flows now as it never had.
The best I can say is that once installed, you will forgot about it, it is that good, IMO.

Jean-Marc

Interesting comments guys.I was told by a NANA representative to tighten Fraim fasteners as much as the supplied tools allowed.

I was also told the veneers would not crush due to the design of the fasteners themselves (the force is distributed evenly across the veneer(?)

regards,

dave

This is the perfect time of year to be doing the assembly and retightening of the Fraim. The cold weather and the dryness of the heat in most places (homes) will allow the wood to contract slightly. As the summer comes and any humidity is present the Fraim will naturally tighten as the wood expands.

You will know when the process is required by the way the music is presented. It is most notable on the treble and bass. When symbols aren't shimmering quite right or the bass seems a little off it's time for a tightning. In my experience it is only a slight turn that is required. tw

Dave don't get to worried, the Frame is not that hard to get right, look at all the parts and tighten down fasteners, common sence will win once you have your Frame, you would have to put so much force into the parts in order to crush the wood...you would snap a threaded rode before you crushed the wood ,Have you ever put a spark plug in any type of engine , get what I mean you have to be careful, not anal

Hi fi fo fum,

Agreed, It would take alot to crush the veneer-certainly more than the supplied tools would allow. As Tristram mentioned, when the sound goes off, it's time to check things. For me that will be every three months or so. That's about the point where fasteners (and sound) have been extremely "loose" (as in several turns of the nut loose!)

regards,

dave

Ermm - so whats all this bollocks then ?


Naim Fraim - Website Info

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Ease of assembly and maintenance: Levels can be quickly assembled and, because each stand interface is a tripod making it self-levelling, there are no adjustments needed to remove rocking or vibration. The stand will remain in perfect adjustment over time.

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naheed. . .

The stand will remain in perfect adjustment over time

An error.

regards,

dave

I started this one, so thanks for the opinions and information. The Fraims arrive next Monday by pony express from Montreal. They'll be the cherry and aluminum ones - my wife took one look at the pictures and said, "You can buy those." This is unique in my lifetime.
Thanks again,
Don

"You can buy those."

Wow...never heard those 4 words used in the same sentence ;-)

enjoy Don,

dave

Have fun Don - look forward to you report out, ahh the joys of a supporting (audio) wife

naheed. . .

Aesthetics

Sonics apart.. all visitors to my listening room bar none have commented on the looks of the Fraim ... how it integrates the system and tidies everything up with such style.

Look forward to hearing your experiences after installation.

Enjoy your music!