Hi everyone,
I'm new here. I live in South Africa. Just wanted to share my little journey to audio heaven with you.
I have been a self employed artist for the last 20 years, and have never had big amounts of disposable income to spend on a really good system. For decades I got by with my trusty Rega Planar, a bottom of the range NAD amp and some mediocre Sony speakers.
About a year ago I decided enough was enough. I knew if I scoured the junk shops often enough I would find some decent shit at a steal of a price.
After a coupla months I had replaced the NAD with a Rotel power amp with a bit more oomph, and a very cool David Hafler pre-amp that I picked up for 300 Rand. That's about $20. Next to go (although they should have gone first) were the speakers: I found a nice little pair of Goodmans (RB somethings) also for 300 Rands. So far so good.
Then I decided to bite the bullet and after much research ordered a Nagaoka MP 110 cartridge from the states. That set me back more than my entire system, but oh my god did it make a huge difference in the sound. I'd been using an entry level Audio Technika.
But the best was when I walked into the junk shop where I had found the Rotel, and saw this very odd looking pair of speakers up on a shelf. I got a chair and hauled them down. They weighed a bit...
I looked on the back but all I could see was a little sticker on the wooden base that said ARD Time Window. Never heard of them.
So I did a quick search here on this site. Lots of results for DCM Time Windows. Tons of people saying there was nothing quite like them, best they've ever owned etc etc.
But ARD? What was that all about. The pics looked the same though so I shelled out the 350 Rands. 30$.
I found later that night on trawling threads here that these speakers have an interesting tale. The famous Time Windows were designed by two final year engineering students at Wits University, Johannesburg, in the early 70s. One of the guys (his name escapes me) went to live in America where he launched the DCM speaker company with the Time Windows. The other guy, Joachim Fabianek stayed in SA, settling in a small coastal city called East London from where he built these beautiful speakers, and a few other models, under the name ARD.
It was a set of Fabianek's that I found and after I replaced the perished surrounds I can honestly say I am in absolute listening heaven. I know most of you guys have better systems, in totality, than what I have here, and that I should be running them off tube amps, but compared to what I had! Oh my sack! (as we say here in SA.)
Anyway, thanks to those guys who posted here on this site about the Time Windows. You helped me in getting the coolest audio score of my life!
I'm new here. I live in South Africa. Just wanted to share my little journey to audio heaven with you.
I have been a self employed artist for the last 20 years, and have never had big amounts of disposable income to spend on a really good system. For decades I got by with my trusty Rega Planar, a bottom of the range NAD amp and some mediocre Sony speakers.
About a year ago I decided enough was enough. I knew if I scoured the junk shops often enough I would find some decent shit at a steal of a price.
After a coupla months I had replaced the NAD with a Rotel power amp with a bit more oomph, and a very cool David Hafler pre-amp that I picked up for 300 Rand. That's about $20. Next to go (although they should have gone first) were the speakers: I found a nice little pair of Goodmans (RB somethings) also for 300 Rands. So far so good.
Then I decided to bite the bullet and after much research ordered a Nagaoka MP 110 cartridge from the states. That set me back more than my entire system, but oh my god did it make a huge difference in the sound. I'd been using an entry level Audio Technika.
But the best was when I walked into the junk shop where I had found the Rotel, and saw this very odd looking pair of speakers up on a shelf. I got a chair and hauled them down. They weighed a bit...
I looked on the back but all I could see was a little sticker on the wooden base that said ARD Time Window. Never heard of them.
So I did a quick search here on this site. Lots of results for DCM Time Windows. Tons of people saying there was nothing quite like them, best they've ever owned etc etc.
But ARD? What was that all about. The pics looked the same though so I shelled out the 350 Rands. 30$.
I found later that night on trawling threads here that these speakers have an interesting tale. The famous Time Windows were designed by two final year engineering students at Wits University, Johannesburg, in the early 70s. One of the guys (his name escapes me) went to live in America where he launched the DCM speaker company with the Time Windows. The other guy, Joachim Fabianek stayed in SA, settling in a small coastal city called East London from where he built these beautiful speakers, and a few other models, under the name ARD.
It was a set of Fabianek's that I found and after I replaced the perished surrounds I can honestly say I am in absolute listening heaven. I know most of you guys have better systems, in totality, than what I have here, and that I should be running them off tube amps, but compared to what I had! Oh my sack! (as we say here in SA.)
Anyway, thanks to those guys who posted here on this site about the Time Windows. You helped me in getting the coolest audio score of my life!
Last edited:
