Naim Fraim specs

Looking good tripper I especially like how nicely your Herron box esthetically fits in with the Naim gang......do try it on the top shelf just to see if it makes any difference to your ears.

ATB,

Mark

varyat posted:

Looking good tripper I especially like how nicely your Herron box esthetically fits in with the Naim gang......do try it on the top shelf just to see if it makes any difference to your ears.

ATB,

Mark

Thanks. I agree the Herron gels aesthetically very well. I might try the box on top sometime, but by the time I get it switched around my aural memory will have faded to the point I can't tell the difference. 

The icing on the cake is I received today a 3-LP Decca box of Prokofiev's "Romeo & Juliet" (Maazel/Cleveland) from an eBay seller in the UK and the discs are pristine. After a cleaning on the RCM they play super quiet with no ticks or pops. Pressed in Holland too. Enjoying some play time now. My first impressions are the Fraim really opened up the soundstage: it seems a bit more 3-dimensional and more focused. I'll play some things I know better on my system later to see what I think.

Racetripper,

The new Fraim looks superb! Even though I like the wooden veneer Fraim options, it is pleasing and refreshing to see an all black version chosen instead of the usual suspects. Like the space for the ON under the side table as well.

Also, curious, what turntable wall shelf are you using under the Clearaudio?

Yetizone posted:

Racetripper,

The new Fraim looks superb! Even though I like the wooden veneer Fraim options, it is pleasing and refreshing to see an all black version chosen instead of the usual suspects. Like the space for the ON under the side table as well.

Also, curious, what turntable wall shelf are you using under the Clearaudio?

Thanks. We like the black-on-black as well. We had a black and Cherry Salamander previously, but we also had Cherry finish speakers at the time Now we have Piano Black speakers and subs to match the Fraim aesthetic.

The turntable wall-shelf is a Solidsteel WS-5, with an aftermarket (Butcher Block Acoustics) 3" Maple block. I am also using three isoAcoustics Gaia III speaker feet for the turntable, in place of the spikes that came with it. I just ordered a Solidsteel S3-2 stand as a new Okki Nokki cleaning station. A bit pricey for an RCM shelf, but it will match the wall shelf, and will work better size-wise.

RaceTripper posted:

iliria posted:

$7k??? How many shelves have you ordered?

Two Fraim Bases, three Fraim Levels (2 std, 1 med) and two Fraimlite levels. Seven units total, plus 6 floor protectors.

Was there a motivation to mix in Fraimlite?

Im going to sometime not too long away end up with a similar format - 2 3-level Fraims vs my current 5-level Fraim. (This is an older pic; has my ND555 but not my 252/SC/250. Once I go from 250 to 300, I think i'll do 2x3-levels.)  I also opted for the all-black look and am happy with it!

Bart - you’ll see that the Lites are used simply as lids, and not for supporting equipment. Personally, I think it looks best without lids, but some people like them. 

Bart posted:

RaceTripper posted:

iliria posted:

$7k??? How many shelves have you ordered?

Two Fraim Bases, three Fraim Levels (2 std, 1 med) and two Fraimlite levels. Seven units total, plus 6 floor protectors.

Was there a motivation to mix in Fraimlite?

Im going to sometime not too long away end up with a similar format - 2 3-level Fraims vs my current 5-level Fraim. (This is an older pic; has my ND555 but not my 252/SC/250. Once I go from 250 to 300, I think i'll do 2x3-levels.)  I also opted for the all-black look and am happy with it!

 

Yes, I wanted a shelf on top, but not for components. I need the space for records I'm playing (i.e. playlist and currently playing). I also need a place to put the turntable ring and clamp when I'm changing records. I don't want to place those things on top of components directly. It added about 15% to total cost of the Fraim. Naim has a deal on bundles of two Fraimlite levels (i.e two for the price of one).

I'm very happy with black/black. I like how everything just disppears into the room when the lights are dimmed. 

Looks good, I finally took the plunge myself.  Had a hard time with this upgrade (been putting it off for sometime), spending that much on "just a rack".  Have had my eye open for sometime but unfortunately they rarely come up used in my location (& if they did it was never the combo I wanted).  A year or so back I picked up a used/mint fraimlite combo pack for my non Naim components.  So I just recently ordered up a Fraim base & 2 Fraim levels, mine will be in the tinted cherry with black uprights.  Not normally an all black kind of guy but the pic looks pretty sharp.  Unfortunately mine won't be setup for sometime as my new dedicated 2ch room won't be ready for sometime, but I figured the price is just going to go up so might as well go for it now.

Looks good, Racetripper and Bart. +1 for black/black. I've had mine since 2001 but it has grown a bit since then. That flexibility is one of the great things about the Naim Fraim. 

RaceTripper posted:

Yetizone posted:

Racetripper,

The new Fraim looks superb! Even though I like the wooden veneer Fraim options, it is pleasing and refreshing to see an all black version chosen instead of the usual suspects. Like the space for the ON under the side table as well.

Also, curious, what turntable wall shelf are you using under the Clearaudio?

Thanks. We like the black-on-black as well. We had a black and Cherry Salamander previously, but we also had Cherry finish speakers at the time Now we have Piano Black speakers and subs to match the Fraim aesthetic.

The turntable wall-shelf is a Solidsteel WS-5, with an aftermarket (Butcher Block Acoustics) 3" Maple block. I am also using three isoAcoustics Gaia III speaker feet for the turntable, in place of the spikes that came with it. I just ordered a Solidsteel S3-2 stand as a new Okki Nokki cleaning station. A bit pricey for an RCM shelf, but it will match the wall shelf, and will work better size-wise.

Thanks for the info Racetripper. 

Ah, I see re the turntable support. I assumed the thicker wooden support under the Clearaudio was an aftermarket addition, but wasn’t 100% sure. I’ve just looked at the Solidsteel website, and that TT wall shelf is a really elegant support, especially as to how the wall fixings are all but hidden. 

Agree, re the black on black. Sometimes, however beautiful, there can be too many wood finishes competing with each other! I really like look of the Fraim rack and Naim boxes in situ.

Interesting with the addition of another support for the ON. Please keep the thread updated with images when installed and set up.

Yetizone posted:

Thanks for the info Racetripper. 

Ah, I see re the turntable support. I assumed the thicker wooden support under the Clearaudio was an aftermarket addition, but wasn’t 100% sure. I’ve just looked at the Solidsteel website, and that TT wall shelf is a really elegant support, especially as to how the wall fixings are all but hidden. 

Agree, re the black on black. Sometimes, however beautiful, there can be too many wood finishes competing with each other! I really like look of the Fraim rack and Naim boxes in situ.

Interesting with the addition of another support for the ON. Please keep the thread updated with images when installed and set up.

The Solidsteel wall shelf is the nicest I have seen personally, bar none. As you observed the mounting hardware is elegantly tucked out of sight below the platform ledge. I had the butcher block made to custom spec (it's a tad larger than stock selections to match the wall shelf perfectly). It's also mounted on an outside plaster-on-brick wall and the bolts are cemented in, so it's not going anywhere & can take a lot of weight, currently about 50 lbs with TT and butcher block.

I hope to have the Solidsteel shelf tomorrow. Hopefully, the missing Naim parts are not far behind.

Just to provide a final update. I got my missing parts within a week, and also bought a Solidsteel shelf for my RCM station. Everything looks great and sounds fantastic. I think the biggest thing I've noticed with the Fraim is how much the soundstage has improved with greater focus and more depth. I've done so many upgrades lately that it becomes hard to say what contributed how much to what, but that doesn't matter. It's the end result that counts. The one upgrade I have left to do is the tonearm. My Clearaudio Magnify has a magnetic bearing and that doesn't work so well with my physical environment (springy 90-yr old brick house), so I am upgrading to the Universal arm with ball bearings.

One final question. Anyone use the little plastic ball guides that you stick to the glass shelves, to help with positioning? Are they noticeable? I omitted them but might go back and attach them after all.to help prevent them sliding off the balls when I am working with cables, etc.

Hi Racetripper.

Your new set up looks very cool. With regard to the plastic dodas I couldn’t tell you, whether there is an audible difference. I never used mine and have never had a unit slide off yet, although I have been seen to ping a cable or two. Hope this helps.

Enjoy Peter

I’d forget the plastic rings, unless you have a dog with an excessively waggy tail or boisterous nature. Your best bet is to hold the front while inserting cables, especially PowerLines. The rings are basically a pain in the neck, and look horrid. 

hungryhalibut posted:

I’d forget the plastic rings, unless you have a dog with an excessively waggy tail or boisterous nature. Your best bet is to hold the front while inserting cables, especially PowerLines. The rings are basically a pain in the neck, and look horrid. 

I actually do have a Rottweiler. Her tail was never docked and is massive (but never a problem...so far). 

I have a magnetic bearing arm on an unsuspended deck and have no problem with it on Fraim on a floor that would have a LP12 jumping every time I walked near it. My arm is the other way up, clearaudio inverted it to avoid the patent but I’d guess some of the same rules will apply. The trick on mine is to have a narrow magnet gap, 0.3mm is the thickness of the card I’m using as a feeler gauge which goes in but is tighter than I’d use when setting a valve clearence so the gap is probably approaching 0.25mm, too wide and it loses focus. I’m not so sure about the carbon fibre however, never heard a carbon arm I’ve liked, nor a magnesium one come to that.

yeti42 posted:

I have a magnetic bearing arm on an unsuspended deck and have no problem with it on Fraim on a floor that would have a LP12 jumping every time I walked near it. My arm is the other way up, clearaudio inverted it to avoid the patent but I’d guess some of the same rules will apply. The trick on mine is to have a narrow magnet gap, 0.3mm is the thickness of the card I’m using as a feeler gauge which goes in but is tighter than I’d use when setting a valve clearence so the gap is probably approaching 0.25mm, too wide and it loses focus. I’m not so sure about the carbon fibre however, never heard a carbon arm I’ve liked, nor a magnesium one come to that.

Magnetic bearing just doesn't work well for me, and I have it adjusted to the narrowest possible gap. Prior to the Magnify I also had the Clarify, which uses two magnetic bearings, and was worse. It was OK, when I had my TT shelf mounted on an inside wall (plaster on lathe), but now it's mounted on an outside wall (plaster on brick). I end up getting rumble too easily. All it takes to upset the arm is for a big truck to go by outside, or for my wife to slam the back door shut. The Clearaudio US importer tech support agrees my solution is to move to the Tracer or Universal arm, which have ball bearings.

I also cannot put a turntable on a floor stand, Fraim or otherwise. 

Have you tried it on the Fraim? 

I’m surprised I get away with this but it’s the only way the system will fit and there seems to be no hint of feedback. The deck is on three cones, one aluminium and two polymer, on Fraim chips so the isolation is Fraim all the way until you get to the solid plinth, a sandwich of ebony in bamboo laminate.

yeti42 posted:

Have you tried it on the Fraim? 

 

I’m surprised I get away with this but it’s the only way the system will fit and there seems to be no hint of feedback. The deck is on three cones, one aluminium and two polymer, on Fraim chips so the isolation is Fraim all the way until you get to the solid plinth, a sandwich of ebony in bamboo laminate.

No, and there's no reason to. One, I am on the second floor of a 90 year old house, with springy floors. Nothing is going to isolate and settle that much movement. Secondly, I have no place to put it. I already use the Fraimlite shelves that are on top.

I suppose if I were in a solid old European stone house things might be different for my setup. That's what the importer even says: the magnetic bearing arms work better in Europe than they do in the US, and they don't carry them as much as the ball bearing tonearms.

I take the glass out of my two spare shelves under the ND555 and the 552.

Bob green posted:

I take the glass out of my two spare shelves under the ND555 and the 552.

Why? It sounds better to you?

Sounds better,looks better,and easier to keep the dust off the shelves.bob.

RaceTripper posted:

One final question. Anyone use the little plastic ball guides that you stick to the glass shelves, to help with positioning? Are they noticeable? I omitted them but might go back and attach them after all.to help prevent them sliding off the balls when I am working with cables, etc.

I bought most of my Fraim units in 2001 at which time the circular plastic ball guides hadn't been invented, or at least weren't supplied. I did buy two further shelves at a later date, which were supplied with the plastic rings. I did stick them on, but use those shelves under two of the suspended units (turntable and streamer).

BTW if you do elect to use them, don't bother with the paper template. Instead just determine the correct orientation for the glass (dong/donk test) then turn it over, line it up and and line the rings up with the balls.

BTW2 it looks very nice.

Easier said than done!,l had to use the template when l first used them,then l stopped useing them l can’t remember why,my dealer reffited them when he installed my ND 555. It is good if you can use them because with out the glass shelves can be a nightmare!.

Bob green posted:

Sounds better,looks better,and easier to keep the dust off the shelves.bob.

I found it sounded better with the glass in place. Quite a few others have reported the same thing.