Naim Fraim - Slated
Posted by: Darke Bear on 22 December 2015
This project had the aim of removing unwanted side-effects from having empty Fraim shelves in my system, where I found I did need them for more height and ease of cable-dressing.
Briefly: the problem was that I found that the Fraim needed the glass in order for the wooden parts of the design not to vibrate and spoil performance, but that the glass also wanted to vibrate, as it was intended to have equipment atop it.
I experimented with lots of objects and materials with little success until I discovered this solution. But in addition it has turned into a rather unexpected and consistent upgrade on all three shelves I've tried it on so far, so I'll describe what you need to do to try it - if you are so inclined:
You will need a Slate Tile 30cm square and about 6mm thick, three lead pointed lead Air Rifle pellets and part of a large wax candle.
Essentially I was trying to stop the glass vibrating in a bad way and found that a slate tile does the job if placed on three spacers - the pointed lead Air Rifle pellets - does the job. Place the pellets about 50mm or so farther in along from the Fraim glass supporting balls (in line with these towards the centre of the glass), then place the slate atop these. Finally, place a chunk of wax on the slate to remove a slight ring it has and you are done.
Only use slate - other materials, such as other stone types, like marble sound awful. The micro-structure of slate seems to give it wonderful sonic qualities, if used with care. Do not assume 'more is better' as if the slate slab is too heavy it sounds poor.
It sound like a crazy thing - perhaps - but it is surprisingly effective.
Improvements in clarity and resolution top to bottom of frequency response, but particularly in the deep bass resolution in my system.
Since another Forum member asked about it I thought I'd risk posting it - something inexpensive for Christmas.
I expect some moans from some, but for those that are interested to try it - you may be surprised.
Forgive the Fairy-dust. 
DB.
Very festive. Expensive candle holder, though. Carbon scoring on the underside of each shelf above a candle perchance? (pace R2D2). 
Loki posted:Very festive. Expensive candle holder, though. Carbon scoring on the underside of each shelf above a candle perchance? (pace R2D2).
Do not light the candle! 
Hook posted:Interesting idea DB. I use one large coffee table book on each of my empty Fraim shelves. Seems to work well enough, but I have not tried any alternatives.
Merry Christmas, and thanks for all of your forum contributions!
Hook
Merry Christmas!
I found that the glass likes to be able to vibrate, but just fixing some nodes on it sounded better than the dead weight I used before.
Interesting ....... way back when I had a turntable wall shelf, very 1980/90's must have with a metal tube frame & an MDF shelf on spikes. I changed the MDF for glass as that was the way to audio heaven or so the guru's told us. That followed with my idea of 2 layers of glass & a polythene sheet between. Finally I changed to a slab of 1/2 inch slate & that to my ears was the best of all. The wall shelf was sold along with its glass & MDF but I kept the slate & it is still out in the garage in my bits & pieces rack. Its too thick to add to my NDX, but I still have my trusty ol' Rega Planer III & it can use it with no problems & it might just be an idea to side it onto the slate with some inert feet as an experiment ....... not much to do over the next week 
Darke Bear posted:Loki posted:Very festive. Expensive candle holder, though. Carbon scoring on the underside of each shelf above a candle perchance? (pace R2D2).
Do not light the candle!
I was thinking you might light the candle for Christmas festivities
In some further experiment I tried a slightly thicker and heavier glass shelf to replace the open shelf under my 555 source. This replacement shelf is 10mm thick whereas the original Fraim glass is about 9mm. I previously tried the 10mm glass for equipment sitting on it and found Naim had it right with their 9mm glass sounding better - but I never thought to try it on and empty shelf - now I have and it is better than the standard glass here.
All my experiments have revealed just how good the Fraim design was optimised for their large chassis footprint equipment though.
Huge: Accent on Vocals is Brazilian - so works well with Shakira.
DB.
'Naim had it right with their 9mm glass sounding better'
Now we know where all their R&D budget goes...
Seriously, though, what happens if you just remove the glass/slate altogether and just keep the wooden sub-chassis for the unoccupied shelf?
Loki posted:I see. If it's the relative loading of the shelf which is the issue, have you tried adding something(s) weighty to the shelf? For example what difference would a few books make, or a bit of old unused kit? Or a second glass shelf?
It has been found that empty shelves can improve performance of Fraim, but they can also (for me) impart unwanted sonic niggles I don't like hearing, so the attempt was to see if I could 'fix' empty shelves where I felt I needed or wanted to use them.
In my case after I purchased the S1 Pre things became rather clearer to hear what was going on. The same benefits accrue with other components upstream, but I found that the source supports imparted a lot to the character of the end result and can be tuned to get the best from it. The reason I used two medium levels - after I did try a single level - under my 555 source was that two levels sounded so much more detailed and musical than the rather dry clinical sound I obtained with a single medium level.
Rather than asking me it is best to try what you suggest and then hear why there may be a better way to go - or if if does the job then you have what you require. The thread was just a pre-Christmas prod for people inclined with a bit of time to experiment. Presently I've reached a happy result and enjoying it.
DB.
J.N. posted:Gary has inspired me to experiment again. I have an empty Fraim level under my CD555.
- Glass back and add a book for damping. Nope - don't like it. Subtle; but the music is killed a bit - like the musicians have lost interest.
.. did it sound all 'booky' John..
enjoy
ken
J.N. posted:I am reminded of another handy Fraim tweak I learned from DB. Moving 'hard feet' Naim boxes a few mm forward (aligning them with the front edge of the glass) has a clearly audible effect. It's a nice little system tuning tweak, and one will prefer 'front or centre' (and degrees in between) of glass to taste and equipment/room matching. A tad shy of the front edge does it for me with my 552 and 555.
John.
this one i did too ... for all my Naim back boxes (not just the hard footed ones), mind you for some of them this was forced by cable dressing requirements. i didnt do any A/B tests to determine whether the soft feeted ones were better off further back from the frond edge -- hey -- life's too short ...
enjoy...
ken
winkyincanada posted:If you keep your dusting habits unchanged, the damping factor will increase with time, eventually making the slate and candles redundant.
what a brilliant idea ... saves a lot of time too ...
enjoy
ken
ken c posted:winkyincanada posted:If you keep your dusting habits unchanged, the damping factor will increase with time, eventually making the slate and candles redundant.
what a brilliant idea ... saves a lot of time too ...
enjoy
ken
Maybe that's why my rack sounds better now - I always thought it was the glass shelves and cap nuts I added!
winkyincanada posted:If you keep your dusting habits unchanged, the damping factor will increase with time, eventually making the slate and candles redundant.
That is why I don't dust! Nothing at all with being lazy - no - its for the good of the HiFi!!!
DB.