Fraim.......I’m now a believer!

NIce. I agree, once done you are only left wondering why you didn't do it sooner. Enjoy. Don't forget to strip it down in six months once it has settled and re-tighten everything. You'll hear this as well.

i moved a couple of years ago to Fraim, and certainly won't move again

I worked on the theroy of getting system to level where the Fraim would add to the system which it does

there are other racks, to me Fraim is the best option

CDboy, I definitely should have done it sooner. Breaking it down in 6 months time won’t be as bad as what I initially thought as it goes together very easily - for me the cable dressing was a lot more difficult than  my old 4 post rack because of the third leg in the middle, also a couple of the cables are slightly too long as they just touch the ground and my rack is 5 levels.

Antony, I worked on the same theroy as you, getting my system to a certain level first. I would like to think (and my bank manager) that this is my end game, but we all know how addictive the upgradeitis is. More than happy to sit here for a long time though..

3 weeks.   

I waited far too long to get Fraimed - but at least I have it now

I upgraded earlier this year to a full fraim, previously had an Apollo rack.

The difference was indeed significant.

I think it was a combination of the full fraim being exceptionally good and the Apollo being exceptionally poor.

Certainly pleased I made the change.

I bottled it the first time round and bought lite at the last minuit, I then replaced most of the shelves with the full version a few years later after trying one. If the dealers demoed Fraim I’d probably have gone full fat in the first place.  

BRAVO, HOOK!

Nice one Hook.

We used QS. When we went from one integrated amp to a four box pre/power we needed more shelves. QS let us down so we stumped up the extra for a Fraim, not expecting to hear a big difference but in need of something to stack the boxes on. The transformation was huge.

Some time later we did a factory visit and Jason spent some time talking about the R&D and attention to detail involved in coming up with the Fraim and manufacturing it. As we already knew, the performance of the Fraim is not a happy accident. Like everything else Naim makes.

I’m using a HiFi Racks solid oak rack on a concrete floor. Would a Fraim still provide a noticeable improvement?

You guys are really lovely people but just a bit bonkers when it comes to Fraim. It's a damn stand, a tweaky one at that. If you got rid of it, would you stop enjoying your music?  Would you hear the difference going back to your old stand? Maybe, maybe not. More than a bit of expectation confirmation here. By the way, don't forget to take it apart once a year to relieve all the built up stress. Maybe the same time you de-stress your Bundy's. Just make sure you catch all the ball-bearings!

Fraim owner but not acolyte

Yup. Bonkers. That's me all right. But I'm happy bonkers.

Naim_that_tune posted:

I’m using a HiFi Racks solid oak rack on a concrete floor. Would a Fraim still provide a noticeable improvement?

I’ve added Naim glass, cups and balls tomine, and it made a big improvement. Costs about £90/shelf.

Phil

I wa thinking of upgrading to glass balls, but my wife likes the current set up.....

Naim_that_tune posted:

I’m using a HiFi Racks solid oak rack on a concrete floor. Would a Fraim still provide a noticeable improvement?

I'd be very surprised if you didn't notice a decent improvement with Fraim. Don't use it myself, for practical reasons, unfortunately, but all the systems I've heard properly set up on Fraim really seem to sing. I'm not convinced that HiFi Racks have put that much thought into their designs - most racks are made from low mass, high rigidity materials, and their thick boards of solid oak, being one of the heaviest timbers, certainly differ from those design criteria.   

Harry posted:

Yup. Bonkers. That's me all right. But I'm happy bonkers.

Made me smile. Enjoy and have a nice New Year Harry.

Clay Bingham posted:

You guys are really lovely people but just a bit bonkers when it comes to Fraim. It's a damn stand.

 

That’s exactly what I use to think........lock me up I’ve joined the bonkers club!

Very interesting thread. I am considering a Quadraspire SVT for my system. Is there a big difference to the Naim Fraim? Should I wait and save for a Fraim. Also is the difference between the standard and full Fraim huge?

Really? I heard zero difference and buying a Fraimlite was a waste of money afterall

Absolutely! Fraim (full fat) made a difference for me... to be fair not necessarily for every component... but notable beneficiaries were my 552 head end and CDX2.

I did find getting the tensions right (not too tight) , the spikes properly seating in their cups and to some extent the glass the right way up (tap it to find out) was important.

Hook posted:

I thought PRAT was only true in fairy tales
Meant for someone else but not for me
Apollo was out to get me
That's the way it seemed

Disappointment haunted all of my dreams

 

Then I bought Naim’s Fraim, now I'm a believer
Not a trace, of doubt in my mind
I'm in love, and I'm a believer
I couldn't leave her if I tried

(I kept reading the title of this thread with that damn song stuck in my head as well.)

Clay Bingham posted:

Harry posted:

Yup. Bonkers. That's me all right. But I'm happy bonkers.

Made me smile. Enjoy and have a nice New Year Harry.

Thank you. You too.

Iver van de Zand posted:

Very interesting thread. I am considering a Quadraspire SVT for my system. Is there a big difference to the Naim Fraim? Should I wait and save for a Fraim. Also is the difference between the standard and full Fraim huge?

We only had the standard QS for comparison. Fraim was worth every extra penny.

Our plan was to go to SVT but the materials that arrived were badly finished and would not assemble properly. We got a full refund and ordered Fraim. Probably should have just gone Fraim to start with. The material  quality is in a different league. 

I run a mix of full (the 'brain' stack) and lite (the 'brawn' stack), albeit on full bases. I had a number of spare glass shelves, from my old stand, about the same size as the ones on the full and use these on the 'lite shelves for the PSUs. I did this because I am scrooge when it comes to spending money on our hi-fi system, but the system had outgrown the old shelving system and something new was needed. We had a home demo of a stack of 'lite to confirm there were no adverse changes in SQ. We nearly didn't buy the Fraim after we struggled with the CD player. It is too deep for a standard glass shelf and until we bought a new glass shelf, our experience of using it on 3 isolation points atop a 'lite shelf were, shall we say, underwhelming; a complete loss of clarity and drive. A full size glass shelf restored the SQ and the Fraim stacks are much more pleasing to the eye, as well as making box removal and/or cable swapping much easier. Did the Fraim improve the SQ? All I can say is that it did not make it any worse. Perhaps my old ugly table did some things right.