Fraim experience

Posted by: Jude2012 on 20 December 2014

Hi folks,  

 

Follwing on from contemplation a year go https://forums.naimaudio.com/to...ower-line-or-hi-line, I have taken the plunge and replaced the Atacama Equinox AV (which I have recently come to understand as having a number of awards over the years).

 

 

So, its been  two weeks since adding Fraim to my system and I thought I would share my experience.  Details of my system are in my profile.

 

After a week I made these notes (which are still relevant after the second week, i.e. today) : 
 
Music
  • Voices sound more real and seem to be coming from a point in the room, giving the impression that the artist is actually there.
  • Instruments also have their own point of origin in space on most most tracks.
  • Busy melodies are easier to follow througout the range, I.e. In lows, mids, and highs.
  • The base is cleaner and more defined and less thuddy (very good before though).
  • PRAT seems to be more together, i.e. they all work with each other (was good before, more apparent now)
  • all parts of a track are in harmony/balance and seems less 'stressed' (was very good before).
  • Sound stage seems a bit wider.
  • I can hear more detail.

 

Mechanicals

 
  • The volume is sufficient between 7 to 10 points lower than before.
  • No hum from the NAP (feint hum at times, before)
  • However, I can hear a feint hiss from speakers (not sure whether his was there before)
 
 Quality
  • All components are scarily sturdy and reassuringly heavy. I would not want to get my feet under one of those spikes 
  • It looks amazing, too (Cherry and Silver) and I could not see any difference in the colour of the wood between the Fraim and Fraim Lite shelves.

All of the above holds true for us after the second week. 

 

Installation notes 

 

  • In relative terms it was difficult to get the double sided sticky tape used to site the ball bearing cups off their packaging.
  • All templates worked excellently.
  • Did not notice a difference in sound from tapping eirher sides if the glass shelves.
  • Build time was no more than 1.5 hours.  Re cabling 45 minutes. 

 

Overall
 
It is a bigger impact (which is not subtle) than adding the Power Line (as it affects all aspects of the music), but synergy may have a part to play;as the Power Line is already in place. Also I recently switched over the terminals at the speaker end (from LF to HF); and have needed to re connect all ICs and power leads, both which have a part to play.
 
I guess the opportunity cost was buying a pre-amp, hi-line or NACA5.  Easy decision as more black boxes would have been difficult to accommodate and I view the hi-line (standard or latest version) and NACA5 as tweaks rather than fundamentals.
 
Needless to say that I am DELIGHTED, especially as this is a difficult piece of kit to audition/demo, is relatively expensive, and is a pain to set up.
 
Thanks to Gullifords for the installation. In other words, local dealer support and installation was the factor that made this a 'go' for me (as I am banned from DIY ).

 

 

Jude

 

 

Posted on: 20 December 2014 by Charlie

Hi Jude

 

i had exactly the same experience. A significant upgrade in musical enjoyment.  And any hum from power supplies became almost inaudible. I imagine that this is because unlike other racks the FRAIM is a bespoke solution for naim kit.  And every product that leaves Salisbury is based on extenaive listening.  

 

My FRAIM got fairly tall with six levels and I needed add another.  So this autumn I bought another base unit and shelf giving me two fraims of four levels each.  Looks very cool and sounds even better. 

 

And as you said the quality of construction is really outstanding.  

 

You made the right call. . . 

Posted on: 20 December 2014 by Jude2012
Charlie,

You system is interesting, I.e. seems to me the minimum number of boxes for the highest SQ. 

Jude
Posted on: 20 December 2014 by Harry

I also found it to be no small improvement. We were just looking for something to stand the system on and thought "why not?". It turned out to be a good call with unexpected benefits.

Posted on: 20 December 2014 by Ikoun

Good write up. I totally agree. The fraim has to be considered as a piece of kit like the other boxes - improvement os definitely there. I found no downside, only benefits.
Cheers and enjoy music

Posted on: 21 December 2014 by Jude2012
Harry and @Ikoun, I can't ignore the system when it's playing now (was difficult to do that before, but possible) :-)

Jude :-D
Posted on: 21 December 2014 by Harry

Yes. You won't get any work done.

 

Good huh?

 

Posted on: 21 December 2014 by Jude2012
Originally Posted by Harry:

Yes. You won't get any work done.

 

Good huh?

 

Lucky it's xmas