Hey all. Long time listener, first time caller. I know there's many DCM fans on this forum. I wrote up this post for the epic 90+ page "Whatever happened to Steve Eberbach" thread over on AVSForum, but it ended up being so long that I figured I would share it here as well. I did a lot of reading and forum lurking along my DCM journey and would have liked to see something like this.
In this post:
BACK STORY:
I found a pair of DCM TF-600s on Craigslist a couple of years ago when I was searching for a pair of decent, good-looking floor standing speakers for my mother's living room. I knew nothing about them. The middle-aged couple I bought them from were evidently trying to handle some kind of pest crisis, and their house reeked, absolutely reeked of moth balls. It was actually disturbing. There was no acknowledgement of the stench at all at any point. I think the guy was having a panic attack and selling everything he owned that could possibly have carpet beetles (or whatever) in them. I asked him why he was selling and he stammered something about thinking about upgrading.
I was very impressed with the TF-600s, in particular the stereo image, crisp high-end and surprisingly authoritative and punchy bass. I bought them. The moth ball stench aired out. And they didn't have any carpet beetles in them. Mom was happy.
Later, I needed some new speakers for myself. I picked up a pair of DCM TF-700s for myself on Ebay. Unfortunately they arrived with problems, so I set about refurbishing them.
DCM TF-700 refurb:
Somewhere in there I also snagged a pair of DCM Time Piece bookshelf speakers, and a Double Time subwoofer that I plan to pair with them in a bedroom setup.
Finally, my cousin basically asked me to take his pair of the Time Window 1a. I didn't think I'd want to replace my TF-1000s, but I wanted to hear them, so he brought them over.
Long story short: the Time Window 1a beat out my TF-1000s (in my space, with my gear). Now the TF-1000s are at my mother's house. The TF-600s I originally bought her now need some repair.
SPEAKER IMPRESSIONS:
TF-600s: somewhere in the AVSForum thread, I believe it was mentioned that these were among Eberbach's favorite designs. I can see why. These are better/more interesting than the slightly larger 700s, I think owing to their rear-firing tweeters. These are an incredible bargain and appear on Ebay regularly. Unlike the hefty 1000s, they're a sensible medium size that will work in a variety of spaces. I would recommend them to anyone.
TF-700s: good speakers, but not special IMO compared to the 600s or their larger brother the 1000s. I recently relocated these to a home gym area at a friend's place, and they perform well even with a pretty cheap little SMSL mini-amp.
TF-1000s: I love these. Same drivers as the 700s, but the larger cabinet helps with bass extension and makes them look cooler. They don't need a sub, although I planned to add one eventually.
I never A/B'd the 1000s with the 600s, I'll be interested to do that once I fix the 600s up.
Time Window 1a: In my space, for my application, these are the best yet. Your mileage will vary. My case is interesting because my listening space is not up to audiophile cork sniffing standards, it's just a living area and is far from ideal on-paper. For example the speakers are casting across, rather than along, a vaulted ceiling. For this and other reasons, you'd expect that the odd two-face design of the Time Windows would play havoc with my space... but no. They sound fantastic.
The biggest difference between the 1as and the TF-1000s (in the same space with the same equipment) is that the 1as have an equally excellent "sweet spot" but offer much, much better off-axis performance. I listened to 5-6 albums while sitting off-center from the sweet spot, and I still got a great stereo image. Really impressive. My cousin said "these are the fun ones" comparing them to the 1000s.
BTW, I found the Time Windows sound better a few inches off the floor. For now, cardboard boxes get the job done.
The 1000s were always a bit big for my listening space, and they sound great in their new home in my mother's larger living room. Probably better there than the TW1as would be.
Another interesting note... I'm feeding the Time Window 1as with a lot more power than they need, and my cousin was shocked by the fidelity in the lows and highs coming out of these. In his space with his gear, he had found them to be pretty much "all mids." So if you are looking at TW1as and aren't working with a lot of power, audition these first and see if they work for you.
What kind of power? For my setup (the TF-1000s and now the 1as) it's a Mark Levinson No. 334 poweramp and its companion No. 380 preamp. Yes I know, fancy... got it from a relative and only had to pay for a (wildly expensive, and yet relatively cheap) service to get it working right. It's a beast of an amp.
I mention this because, yes, these are pretty efficient speakers and you don't need much power... but my unprofessional opinion is that these things LOVE power. If in doubt, add more power.
Honorable mentions...
Time Piece: coaxial bookshelf speakers with the familiar DCM sound and appearance. They need a sub to carry the low end, but they sound nice. Not magical. (Interesting teardown thread about them by a boutique speaker builder baco99 on this forum.)
Double Time subwoofer: a small passive sub that will be a nice complement to the Time Piece speakers, although that wasn't its original purpose. It's not big enough to make much difference with the larger floor standing speakers.
As you can tell, the DCM bug has found another victim in me. Hope this info and perspective is interesting and/or helpful.
In this post:
- My DCM experience
- A decent, though not ideal replacement midrange driver for TF-700s (or other Timeframes with a midrange driver)
- A comparison of all the speakers in the thread title, plus a quick note about the Time Piece bookshelves and Double Time sub.
- I'm also now looking for a pair of the Time Window Sevens. If you are selling some, send me a PM.
BACK STORY:
I found a pair of DCM TF-600s on Craigslist a couple of years ago when I was searching for a pair of decent, good-looking floor standing speakers for my mother's living room. I knew nothing about them. The middle-aged couple I bought them from were evidently trying to handle some kind of pest crisis, and their house reeked, absolutely reeked of moth balls. It was actually disturbing. There was no acknowledgement of the stench at all at any point. I think the guy was having a panic attack and selling everything he owned that could possibly have carpet beetles (or whatever) in them. I asked him why he was selling and he stammered something about thinking about upgrading.
I was very impressed with the TF-600s, in particular the stereo image, crisp high-end and surprisingly authoritative and punchy bass. I bought them. The moth ball stench aired out. And they didn't have any carpet beetles in them. Mom was happy.
Later, I needed some new speakers for myself. I picked up a pair of DCM TF-700s for myself on Ebay. Unfortunately they arrived with problems, so I set about refurbishing them.
DCM TF-700 refurb:
- Took the caps and socks off, replaced the disintegrating foam padding with auto headliner foam from Ebay.
- Sanded and refinished the caps with Minwax Natural stain and polyurethane.
- I re-glued the butyl rubber woofer surrounds with Weldwood Contact Cement.
- One of the midrange drivers was beyond repair, so I widened the holes a bit and replaced both mid drivers with the "Visaton M 10 4" Sealed Back Cone Midrange Driver 8 Ohm" (Parts Express #292-594) which seems to be one of few dedicated midrange drivers available out there these days. This is an adequate substitution; it is a touch brighter if you A/B it with the original mid driver without the other drivers hooked up, but music sounds good and not too tinny or mid-forward on the finished speakers. (The midrange plays very softly relative to the other drivers.)
Somewhere in there I also snagged a pair of DCM Time Piece bookshelf speakers, and a Double Time subwoofer that I plan to pair with them in a bedroom setup.
Finally, my cousin basically asked me to take his pair of the Time Window 1a. I didn't think I'd want to replace my TF-1000s, but I wanted to hear them, so he brought them over.
Long story short: the Time Window 1a beat out my TF-1000s (in my space, with my gear). Now the TF-1000s are at my mother's house. The TF-600s I originally bought her now need some repair.
SPEAKER IMPRESSIONS:
TF-600s: somewhere in the AVSForum thread, I believe it was mentioned that these were among Eberbach's favorite designs. I can see why. These are better/more interesting than the slightly larger 700s, I think owing to their rear-firing tweeters. These are an incredible bargain and appear on Ebay regularly. Unlike the hefty 1000s, they're a sensible medium size that will work in a variety of spaces. I would recommend them to anyone.
TF-700s: good speakers, but not special IMO compared to the 600s or their larger brother the 1000s. I recently relocated these to a home gym area at a friend's place, and they perform well even with a pretty cheap little SMSL mini-amp.
TF-1000s: I love these. Same drivers as the 700s, but the larger cabinet helps with bass extension and makes them look cooler. They don't need a sub, although I planned to add one eventually.
I never A/B'd the 1000s with the 600s, I'll be interested to do that once I fix the 600s up.
Time Window 1a: In my space, for my application, these are the best yet. Your mileage will vary. My case is interesting because my listening space is not up to audiophile cork sniffing standards, it's just a living area and is far from ideal on-paper. For example the speakers are casting across, rather than along, a vaulted ceiling. For this and other reasons, you'd expect that the odd two-face design of the Time Windows would play havoc with my space... but no. They sound fantastic.
The biggest difference between the 1as and the TF-1000s (in the same space with the same equipment) is that the 1as have an equally excellent "sweet spot" but offer much, much better off-axis performance. I listened to 5-6 albums while sitting off-center from the sweet spot, and I still got a great stereo image. Really impressive. My cousin said "these are the fun ones" comparing them to the 1000s.
BTW, I found the Time Windows sound better a few inches off the floor. For now, cardboard boxes get the job done.
The 1000s were always a bit big for my listening space, and they sound great in their new home in my mother's larger living room. Probably better there than the TW1as would be.
Another interesting note... I'm feeding the Time Window 1as with a lot more power than they need, and my cousin was shocked by the fidelity in the lows and highs coming out of these. In his space with his gear, he had found them to be pretty much "all mids." So if you are looking at TW1as and aren't working with a lot of power, audition these first and see if they work for you.
What kind of power? For my setup (the TF-1000s and now the 1as) it's a Mark Levinson No. 334 poweramp and its companion No. 380 preamp. Yes I know, fancy... got it from a relative and only had to pay for a (wildly expensive, and yet relatively cheap) service to get it working right. It's a beast of an amp.
I mention this because, yes, these are pretty efficient speakers and you don't need much power... but my unprofessional opinion is that these things LOVE power. If in doubt, add more power.
Honorable mentions...
Time Piece: coaxial bookshelf speakers with the familiar DCM sound and appearance. They need a sub to carry the low end, but they sound nice. Not magical. (Interesting teardown thread about them by a boutique speaker builder baco99 on this forum.)
Double Time subwoofer: a small passive sub that will be a nice complement to the Time Piece speakers, although that wasn't its original purpose. It's not big enough to make much difference with the larger floor standing speakers.
As you can tell, the DCM bug has found another victim in me. Hope this info and perspective is interesting and/or helpful.
