NickofWimbledon
pfm Member
Hi @TheFlash - yes.
The clever glass in a Naim Fraim works remarkably well (which it should for the money), as long as you get it all just right. However, glass 'ringing' is a real problem in a lot of racks, especially if it is thin or the speakers are close enough to excite it.
I have been biased against glass under a TT in particular for decades, but now have a piece of laminated glass under my LP12 after listening tests. However, that includes 4 rubbery feet from HRS and a cheap lump of granite too.
That day's experiments included putting either of two bits of glass in place of the MDF board on my Targett turntable wall shelf. It was awful - shrill, echo-y, thin and lacking bass, focus and cohesion.
We also tried putting the balls and cups from a Naim Fraim on the Targett's MDF board and then putting the glass on that, with the LP12 on top of the whole thing. It didn't look too bad, and it sounded better than than the above glass-only option, but it really wasn't right. Stereo image would be great at one moment and gone the next, sibilance was still worse than the MDF board on the Targett stand, and there was little weight behind drums on 'ok, but not wonderful' recordings - if you want to make John Henry Bonham sound like Charlie Watts, this may be the set-up that suits.
Note that the results might have been different with a non-suspended turntable.
My conclusion on glass was that just the right kind of glass can work well if supported in just the right way (so that resonant frequencies get squashed). If that isn't an option, the cliche about 'light and rigid' is still a good starting point for a turntable, and thick bits of wood or stone (not marble) or clever isolation platforms can improve a decent rack or make a sideboard into a perfectly good support even for the picky.
The clever glass in a Naim Fraim works remarkably well (which it should for the money), as long as you get it all just right. However, glass 'ringing' is a real problem in a lot of racks, especially if it is thin or the speakers are close enough to excite it.
I have been biased against glass under a TT in particular for decades, but now have a piece of laminated glass under my LP12 after listening tests. However, that includes 4 rubbery feet from HRS and a cheap lump of granite too.
That day's experiments included putting either of two bits of glass in place of the MDF board on my Targett turntable wall shelf. It was awful - shrill, echo-y, thin and lacking bass, focus and cohesion.
We also tried putting the balls and cups from a Naim Fraim on the Targett's MDF board and then putting the glass on that, with the LP12 on top of the whole thing. It didn't look too bad, and it sounded better than than the above glass-only option, but it really wasn't right. Stereo image would be great at one moment and gone the next, sibilance was still worse than the MDF board on the Targett stand, and there was little weight behind drums on 'ok, but not wonderful' recordings - if you want to make John Henry Bonham sound like Charlie Watts, this may be the set-up that suits.
Note that the results might have been different with a non-suspended turntable.
My conclusion on glass was that just the right kind of glass can work well if supported in just the right way (so that resonant frequencies get squashed). If that isn't an option, the cliche about 'light and rigid' is still a good starting point for a turntable, and thick bits of wood or stone (not marble) or clever isolation platforms can improve a decent rack or make a sideboard into a perfectly good support even for the picky.