Stereoplay

Posted by: Paul Stephenson on 18 November 2001

Our German contributors might be able to fill us in with the scoop from the latest massive rack test.........( if such things interest you)I have not seen the issue but have been told the Fraim did very well.

Posted on: 18 November 2001 by Willem van Gemert

Hi Paul,

Together with the German version of the Naim Newsletter (nice work Thomas!) I received an extract from the Fraim test as it appeared in the october edition of Stereo. Very positive.
Image hifi announced a Fraim review by Werner Höglmaier for their next issue which appears the 14th of December. I expect it to be very positive. In the current issue there is a picture of a Naim system on Fraim taken from the London Hi-Fi Show, Image hifi comments: "The Fraim, Naim's rack system, not only looks good, but, according to WH, sounds fantastic too".

Ciao!

Willem

Posted on: 18 November 2001 by Thomas K

Thanks Willem! I've not read the Stereoplay test yet, but I heard that the Fraim did best.

Thomas

Posted on: 18 November 2001 by Don Atkinson

Come on guys.

Your duty is clear.

Go out and buy the magazine, read it, tell us which racks the FRAIM was up against and confirm it was the best by a wide margin. Write a short, interesting, humorous and imformative report, translate it into perfect English and post it here not later than 17.00 hrs Monday 19th November.

This is no different to your English homework from school-days.

The teachers (thats us lot here in UK, USA, Canada, and especially Stallion) will then challenge every word, phrase, adjective, hidden meaning, etc, etc. Assuming the FRAIM comes out on top (well it must, otherwise Paul S wouldn't have mentioned it) those of us who like the FRAIM will then applaud your work and think you're the greatest reporters of all time, whilst Stallion, Mr Pig and others will call 'foul' over some irrelevant turn of phrase, and condem you both, and the rest of us, to the land of cloth-eared sheep again. Or am I getting synical in my old age?

But please give us the report!

Cheers

Don

Posted on: 18 November 2001 by Willem van Gemert

Hi Don,

Although I'm not a fan of Stereoplay I'll have a look tomorrow morning if I can find the issue. If I find a copy, I'll post a summary during the day. Can't guarantee though that it will be humorous, that's more Thomas' speciality!

Ciao!

Willem

Posted on: 19 November 2001 by Willem van Gemert

Bought Stereoplay this morning. Lots of pictures of the Fraim accompany the test. The racks tested are: Hutter Racktime (920 EUR), Finite Elemente Pagode Master Reference (3323 EUR), Creaktiv Little Audio Reference (1329 EUR), Naim Audio Fraim (2863 EUR), Phonosophie Rack 4 C (869 EUR). Quite a lot of blah blah and Hi-Fi terms I don't know how to translate. Stereoplay measures in units of "improvement" (0-10) compared to an IKEA Ivar shelf.

The Naim Fraim is the clear winner with 8 out of 10 units and a neutral sound character, Hutter scores 5 out of 10 with a neutral sound character as well. The other racks all have a coloured sound character (damped (?) or dynamic) and score as follows: Creaktiv and Phonosophie 5 out of 10, Finite Elemente 7 out of 10.

Conclusion: Fraim is the absolute winner. Fraim sounded better in all fields: timing, detail, tempo, structure, bass precision. Top class! Price is high, but justified due to excellent finish.

Ciao!

Willem

P.S. I can scan the article tonight, so if you want to improve your German, just send me an e-mail!

Posted on: 19 November 2001 by Alex S.

What electronic equipment did they use for the stand tests?

Alex

Posted on: 19 November 2001 by Paul Stephenson

Thanks, we will post a link when Stereoplay add the latest mag to their site. The next issue of Image will also be worth a look.

Posted on: 19 November 2001 by Thomas K

Thanks Willem! I'm a bit busy at the moment so I'am afraid I can't provide verbose translations for those who don't speak German.

Please send me a copy of the test if it's not too much trouble.

Thomas

Posted on: 19 November 2001 by Willem van Gemert

Alex,

They don't mention which equipment they used. They suggest to play around a bit with equipment placement. According to them often the CD player sounds better on the bottom shelf and the power amplifier on the top shelf. Question of right weight distribution and personal preferences. They didn't specify if this is the case with all racks tested.

Ciao!

Willem

Posted on: 19 November 2001 by Willem van Gemert

Just noticed, according to Stereoplay, the top shelf of the Fraim is the best shelf for source components, because of the multiple decoupling. They also suggest to polish the balls regularly, should make a difference in spatial presentation. No, I'm not making this up.

Ciao!

Willem

Posted on: 19 November 2001 by Don Atkinson

Write a short, interesting, humorous and imformative report, translate it into perfect English and post it here not later than 17.00 hrs Monday 19th November.

Absolutley perfect!

Especially the bit about polishing your balls frequently!!.

If Paul S gets the 'link' in place, I'll get my youngest girl to translate as part of her German homework!!!

Cheers

Don

Posted on: 19 November 2001 by jimlevitt

Does the Stereoplay review describe the structural characteristics of the room used during the test of the rack systems? Concrete floors and suspended wooden floors behave very differently - there was a recent article regarding the role of cones at www.soundstage.com in which the author says rigid spiking to the floor should only be considered for concrete floors. I think he's got a point (disregard the pun.)

Posted on: 21 November 2001 by Simon Matthews

"Conclusion: Fraim is the absolute winner. Fraim sounded better in all fields: timing, detail, tempo, structure, bass precision. Top class! Price is high, but justified due to excellent finish".

nice. I would be interested in any translation of the German review text if possible??