Naim Fraim

Having only heard Fraim twice (to date) and not in a comparative demo, I can't really comment as a long-term user.

However, a dealer I know and respect stocks Fraim, Mana and Quadraspire Reference. In their opinion, the Fraim is the best without question for Naim kit. They are a bit undecided about the QS Ref for some kit, but agree that when it works well under kit, there is little to touch it - my DNM kit is a case in point - and Mana is respected but its lack of flexibility (i.e. no facility to add shelves) coupled with its industrial appearance put many people off.

Having owned Target, Mana and QS Ref (along with QS standard and a hybrid homemade stand) I'd state categorically that:

For certain kit, Mana is undeniably the wonder stand that the so-called 'cretins' (untrue in the main) claim it to be. However, it doesn't work with some kit as I found out. Stick it under an LP12 and you're laughing.

Fraim seems to me to combine the best of QS Reference and Mana - but, I wouldn't like to claim it to be better than either of those two. All I will state is that my dealer really rates it more than the other two.

QS Reference is a true bargain as it's at least as good as Phase 4 Mana and under my own kit sounds better than Phase 8 Mana did - which was getting on for as much as I was ever planning to go to. The aesthetic of QS Ref takes some stick, but it actually looks nice in oak with silver uprights. I don't use the bog-seats - my kit would fall through!

The companies: if you buy from Mana, you will have ready access to a lot of enthusiastic owners and they'll bend over backwards to help, most of the time. JW is helpful and the forum is getting a bit friendlier (from what I've seen on an occasional, non-participative fly-by). Now that the competition from Fraim and QS Reference has offered viable alternatives, I suspect that Mana will have to appeal to a wider audience outside of Naim and Linn, as the Naimites now will aspire to Fraim instead of Mana.

Quadraspire customer service sucks. I moved to QS Reference as it works better with my own system, but had I known how much hassle they'd be I might have just stuck with my Mana or moved to Fraim. Mana were always very prompt with deliveries, helpful and all the bits were sure to be in the box. QS need to sort themselves out in this way, lest they lose the custom for what remains a remarkable performer for the money.

Fraim looks much better in the flesh than it does on screen. Had I seen how nice it looked I might have been prepared to go the full distance, but the lack of a wall-mounted shelf and the glass shelves (which don't seem to suit my TT's feet) put me off. Oh, and that ludicrous price!

In summary, they're all cracking products, but you MUST be open-minded about them all before committing to any of them. Mana is perhaps the easiest to find secondhand, and is the only one to offer working speaker isolation (their best product perhaps? certainly, under my Neats, Mana does incredible things, leading to a level of involvement and musicality that two years ago I'd have thought impossible in a home stereo system).

Fraim is the newcomer, but I've yet to read anything worse than an 'acceptable' review of it - most are glowing, despite the ridiculous price.

QS Reference is the bargain here, but the aesthetic may not suit. Never tried it under an LP12, maybe it is too wobbly, who knows. CUstomer service blows chunks, try to get dealer advice before purchase on delivery dates and keep on at them. Finishes are good, assembly is easy and it's easy to add new shelves or increase/decrease the height of existing ones. For full-width kit, you have the bog-seat (i.e. cut-out shelves) option, although I haven't tried it due to incompatibility with the feet on my gear.

Other than that, don't get drawn into debates. They're all considerably better than a Target anything (remember, I owned that once too) and don't cheap-out on us and buy a QS Standard - this is inferior to Mana, QS Ref and Fraim and a false economy.

Good luck,

TC '..'
"Girl, you thought he was a man, but he was a Muffin..."

Very much so.

"What is the better upgrade: XPS
or Fraim? might be a useless question I know!"

Very good question.They do different things. Both are worthwhile.

"how much better is a Fraim than
an ordinary rack?"

The Fraim is the second rack I've heard that doesn't distort the tune. Others aren't even close.

sorry for such a long reply ;-)

dave

Regards
Steve

Astoria studios are replacing their Mana with Russ Andrews Torlyte racks.

I also have run out of space and it is bl**dy bewildering out there!

David

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Astoria studios are replacing their Mana with Russ Andrews Torlyte racks.

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I read about that. Very interesting, and a bit of a surprise. I've not heard Torlyte in a long time, but what I do recall of it was that it wasn't particularly beneficial nor damaging to the sound of the equipment that sat on it. Maybe things have improved, but the RA stuff is so heinously expensive and terribly ugly that I'm surprised old Russ even managed to get it through the doors of the Astoria without being laughed at.

I mean, Mana would fit in quite nicely to a studio, I'd think, with it's black, purposeful look (no WAF to worry about there). Sure, maybe it didn't suit their kit, or maybe this Torlte stuff has come on a lot, but it does seem to be a very strange move to me...

TC '..'
"Girl, you thought he was a man, but he was a Muffin..."

quote:

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I've not heard Torlyte in a long time, but what I do recall of it was that it wasn't particularly beneficial nor damaging to the sound of the equipment that sat on it

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Hmmm, probably just what you need in a recording studio. I agree about the looks though, Mana looked better.

David

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and don't cheap-out on us and buy a QS Standard - this is inferior to Mana, QS Ref and Fraim and a false economy

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I'm fed up with people having a go at the standard QS. For those of us who only have a few hundred quid, after living with it for two years and comparing it to other cheaper/similarly priced stuff, I am willing to put my head on the block and say it offers a very worthwhile improvement over Ikea furniture and another cheap glass/metal frame which i will not advertise.

My point is that if its all you can afford its the best i have tried at the price.

I bit the bullet about six months ago and put my system on Fraim. If you can justify over £2k for an XPS; you can justify the cost of Fraim.

I became totally disillusioned with my kit on Sound Org steel racks (it sounded better on the floor!); so tried to do it on the cheap with a home made wooden rack (which was better).

Not only is Fraim, dynamic, open and detailed but has no forced 'edge' to the sound. It layers the mix so that the music just sounds relaxed, dynamic and right.

Before Fraim, lead instruments and vocals were inclined to 'shout' out of the mix and background information was compressed or lost.

It's been designed to wring the maximum out of your costly system and I've yet to find anyone who doesn't like the 'sound' of it.

It's effect in my system could not have been replicated by spending the same amount on black boxes.