ssouci
Well-Known Member
whew!!!!... finally finished restoring my recently acquired DCM TimeFrame TF700s
man, what a massive and fussy job, especially in a small apartment... took me a LOT longer and required more $$$ than expected, and had setbacks along the way, but they now look brand new (maybe even better?), cosmetically perfect, and sound fantastic so far based on limited listening
these had been previously restored, but sadly, I discovered several negative issues once I got them home, and they didn't nearly measure up to my existing TF500s... so unfortunately, yes I overpaid, but not too wildly(?)... now these TF700s easily surpass them, especially in the depth of bass, midrange quality of voices, and general clarity... the TF700s are bigger, badder, and all around better sounding
summary:
- new Vifa tweeters (to correct the new Seas Prestige that had been installed... nice, but sound-wise, I don't think they work correctly as direct replacements)
- new woofer rubber surrounds (old glue was incorrect and had failed plus rubber was old and starting to crack)
- crossovers rebuilt and all caps replaced upgraded (Solens for mylars), all solder joints checked, most redone
- crossovers updated to later revision with R1 (since these were the "first generation" model)
- crossover parts held down with silicone, etc. to prevent broken leads from vibration
- added dampening putty to woofer frames
- built new "acoustic lenses" to replace missing units (grrrr...)
- wiring beefed up to 18 awg, new 5-way terminals
- driver area particleboard cleaned up and strengthened (arrgg...)
- converted to all black
- rubber feet added (IMHO, a mandatory upgrade for TimeFrames...)
- rear panel screw holes cleaned up, relocated, and countersunk
- rear panel seals improved (butyl sealing tape)
- fabric covering converted to full coverage (as on later generations)
rebuilding the crossovers was a real pain as I had to pull most of the parts and redo all the connections and the layout... the new thicker leads wires did not help... this is a "first generation" crossover with the point-to-point wiring, which was a pain to work on, but supposedly is actually better than the later PCB style... actually, a lot of other things were also a real pain!!!... and the time to research things, order parts, and go get parts was surprisingly time consuming
I'll try to post more details and pics later, time permitting
... and thanks to everyone who helped me along the way by replaying to my posts!
now, if only I didn't have a cat... TimeFrames are probably the world's nicest cat scratch posts, so I'll have to make up some ugly slip-on cardboard speaker covers, same as for my TF500s (removed only for listening)
[DCM, TF700, TF-700, timeframe, time frame, timeframes, rebuild, restoration, mods]
man, what a massive and fussy job, especially in a small apartment... took me a LOT longer and required more $$$ than expected, and had setbacks along the way, but they now look brand new (maybe even better?), cosmetically perfect, and sound fantastic so far based on limited listening
these had been previously restored, but sadly, I discovered several negative issues once I got them home, and they didn't nearly measure up to my existing TF500s... so unfortunately, yes I overpaid, but not too wildly(?)... now these TF700s easily surpass them, especially in the depth of bass, midrange quality of voices, and general clarity... the TF700s are bigger, badder, and all around better sounding
summary:
- new Vifa tweeters (to correct the new Seas Prestige that had been installed... nice, but sound-wise, I don't think they work correctly as direct replacements)
- new woofer rubber surrounds (old glue was incorrect and had failed plus rubber was old and starting to crack)
- crossovers rebuilt and all caps replaced upgraded (Solens for mylars), all solder joints checked, most redone
- crossovers updated to later revision with R1 (since these were the "first generation" model)
- crossover parts held down with silicone, etc. to prevent broken leads from vibration
- added dampening putty to woofer frames
- built new "acoustic lenses" to replace missing units (grrrr...)
- wiring beefed up to 18 awg, new 5-way terminals
- driver area particleboard cleaned up and strengthened (arrgg...)
- converted to all black
- rubber feet added (IMHO, a mandatory upgrade for TimeFrames...)
- rear panel screw holes cleaned up, relocated, and countersunk
- rear panel seals improved (butyl sealing tape)
- fabric covering converted to full coverage (as on later generations)
rebuilding the crossovers was a real pain as I had to pull most of the parts and redo all the connections and the layout... the new thicker leads wires did not help... this is a "first generation" crossover with the point-to-point wiring, which was a pain to work on, but supposedly is actually better than the later PCB style... actually, a lot of other things were also a real pain!!!... and the time to research things, order parts, and go get parts was surprisingly time consuming
I'll try to post more details and pics later, time permitting
... and thanks to everyone who helped me along the way by replaying to my posts!
now, if only I didn't have a cat... TimeFrames are probably the world's nicest cat scratch posts, so I'll have to make up some ugly slip-on cardboard speaker covers, same as for my TF500s (removed only for listening)
[DCM, TF700, TF-700, timeframe, time frame, timeframes, rebuild, restoration, mods]
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