So i got these timeframes..

Being a DCM fan, i had to jump on the chance to get some tf1000's on c/l for 10 dollars. upon picking them up, i found them to be in their original boxes with the letter from the factory. But, then the kid comes out with a two ziploc bags. One with the crossover from one of the speakers, and the other with the pieces of black plastic that used to be the binding post housing. He said that he was going to try to fix it, but it fell. Oh well.. for $10, if it burst into flames after 3 notes what the hell. right? So i packed them up and brought them home to find one in "great" exterior condition, but i hooked it up to a spare onkyo receiver, and it sounded kinda muddy. so i hooked it up to my big HK, same thing. i looked on the website, but the "manual" they offer is the same as the 3 page deal i found in the box. Anyone have any info on these speakers? Could the weakness in the one functioning speaker be crossover related? i would like to salvage these if possible, but i have the notion of fashioning a DCM center channel out of the remains if possible (Steve Eberbach cringing somewhere). The reason for this being that i would like to keep my timewindows in my HT system. i havent really gotten into dismantling them, as i was hoping to tap into the wealth of wisdom you sages of speaker posses.

10 bucks for TF1000's! Man, is that a stroke of luck! Well, DCM has almost no product support anymore, so you aren't going to find schematics for the crossovers. There are 2 possible problems.
1. The tweeter is fried. If so, they are a common item, and I believe the part number is written on the back. DCM didn't make them, I think it's a Vifa. I have a magnet here from a Vifa D19TD-07, I know it's from a DCM, it's either from a TW or TF.
2. I have never seen a bad component in a DCM crossover, but I have seen component leads that broke from vibration.
To check the tweeter, you have to remove the body sock. You remove the top piece of wood by placing a piece of wood underneath it, and hitting the wood with a hammer in an upward direction. The body sock is glued on with rubber cement at the top, so have some ready for re-assembly.

Thanks Dr. I am pretty stoked about getting them. when i went to pick them up, the guy said that someone had emailed him pretending to be a "friend" of mine who had been instructed to pick them up. Luckily he spotted the shenanigans.
Upon further inspection, the tweeter/midrange are not functioning in the still assembled unit. and the crossover from the other appears to be fine. (to my untrained eye) i will do some more investigating tomorrow. hopefully i can get some pics up.
i did manage to get some unusual product support for my timewindows, i asked for whatever they had laying around, and they sent me a scan of the original handwritten crossover schematics. Of course it was all greek to me, but i thought it was pretty cool.

Congrats! I was second in line for those. If you need help with them let me know, I am local to you...

Don't butcher them... Send them this way instead...

BTW... Welcome to AK.

budgophille said:

When i went to pick them up, the guy said that someone had emailed him pretending to be a "friend" of mine who had been instructed to pick them up.

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I absolutely HATE those scumbags. Lying sacks of shite, they are.

Nice find though. I've got a set of TimeWindows in storge that need a new tweeter. Only problem is is that DCM made about the most unser unfriendly speakers ever. they are the biggest PITA to work on I've encountered. Wacky socks glued on in places and that nasty black goo they sealed the drivers in with all make them a "challenge".

Hopefully, all you have is some bad wiring and don't have to remove and source new driver.

Good Luck!!

If like the lower number TFs, knocking the top off with a wood block and undoing the sock and pulling it down should be easy, but maybe a bit annoying compared to most speakers. If you meter your tweeters and find continuity, then swapping crossovers might help find the problem, that is if you have one that works 100%. That was quite a steal you got considering that there was only a very limited # of 1000s made. I can parrot the comment that DCM was known for using quality components in their crossovers so chances are that they are probably ok. Look for fuses or lamps on the crossover; my 400s have lamps as fuses and both were blown when I bought them. DCM has those still in stock. I paid $100 for my TF 600s and felt like that was a good deal.

If you have a contact at DCM and succeed in getting a schematic of the crossover, I'd love to get a copy of it.

budgophille said:

Thanks Dr. I am pretty stoked about getting them. when i went to pick them up, the guy said that someone had emailed him pretending to be a "friend" of mine who had been instructed to pick them up. Luckily he spotted the shenanigans.
Upon further inspection, the tweeter/midrange are not functioning in the still assembled unit. and the crossover from the other appears to be fine. (to my untrained eye) i will do some more investigating tomorrow. hopefully i can get some pics up.
i did manage to get some unusual product support for my timewindows, i asked for whatever they had laying around, and they sent me a scan of the original handwritten crossover schematics. Of course it was all greek to me, but i thought it was pretty cool.

Click to expand...

Maybe you could scan the schematic and post it for the numerous curious AK members. :thmbsp:

all the info i have is in .tiff format, any ideas on how to convert that to an uploadable file? i actually had more info than i thought.

budgophille said:

all the info i have is in .tiff format, any ideas on how to convert that to an uploadable file? i actually had more info than i thought.

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You should be able to open the .tiff image in paint and then save it as a .jpeg to upload.

Thanks! i had tried it in every other program, paint was the ticket

ok, so i got some pics. I didn't see any obvious damage, or burnt spots, but i did notice there was an upside down wood screw glued into one of the chokes on the board. i circled it in green. i checked the other one, thinking that it might have been a mass market hurried mistake, but there was one in it also.
by the by, i apologize if i am breaking any rules by posting these so large, i am not really familiar with threadicatte.

I think that screw might be there on purpose to provide a core of sorts.
Look for any components that are loose, or leads that are broken. The inductor inside the aluminum tube sometimes gets loose and the leads break.

At long last i have pulled the tweeters out, and they are indeed
Vifa d19td-07 looks to be an 8 ohm, with 903 after the ohm symbol. i see that partzxpress has the Vifa d19td-05, i assume this would be a downgrade?
I also (Many thanks to HomerJsimpson) tested the crossover, and it seems to be in fine working order. I poked around on google a bit, and couldn't find any info on the specs for this -07 tweeter, but found lots for the -05. so, for the short question, what would be a suitable, possibly and upgrade, tweeter? thanks again for all your insight on this.

I think it would be a good replacement...:thmbsp:

Andyman said:

I absolutely HATE those scumbags. Lying sacks of shite, they are.

Nice find though. I've got a set of TimeWindows in storge that need a new tweeter. Only problem is is that DCM made about the most unser unfriendly speakers ever. they are the biggest PITA to work on I've encountered. Wacky socks glued on in places and that nasty black goo they sealed the drivers in with all make them a "challenge".

Hopefully, all you have is some bad wiring and don't have to remove and source new driver.

Good Luck!!

Click to expand...

Yeah they are unfriendly to work on. I can see that, but damn do they sound good!!

This is the first info I have seen on them that says they are 8 ohm speakers. Is that true?

well, that's what the back of the tweeter says. i guess the crossover changes it up a bit. i am really looking forward to getting these things up and running. this will complete my uber dcm hometheater: tf1000's in front, timewindows in the rear, and a kx center channel. (hopefully upgrading to a cx center, when i can find one.) hopefully i can find something to accurately power all this nonsense:yes:

From what I have read here it won't take too much power, they are fairly efficient. I am referring to the TW 1's I have.

I am powering mine with my Son of Ampzilla, but it just idles along unless I crank it up.

budgophille said:

when i went to pick them up, the guy said that someone had emailed him pretending to be a "friend" of mine who had been instructed to pick them up. Luckily he spotted the shenanigans.

Click to expand...

HomerJSimpson said:

Congrats! I was second in line for those. If you need help with them let me know, I am local to you...

Don't butcher them... Send them this way instead...

Click to expand...

Persistent one that Homer J. "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." :scratch2: