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DCM TF600 question...

Yes..any pics and help you provide would be muchly appreciated. I want to tackle my 700's this winter and hoping I am not getting in over my head with the sock and fitting it. I still have to find material as the Ebay seller stated above is expensive and the size is questionable.

I do see the DCM's being more appreciated as a set of 600's just sold on Ebay for $450 with $90 shippin for a nice set. I see that tweeter setup in your pic and wonder if the 700's are the same design? Head scratching stuff!!
 
centsless said:
I do see the DCM's being more appreciated as a set of 600's just sold on Ebay for $450 with $90 shippin for a nice set. I see that tweeter setup in your pic and wonder if the 700's are the same design? Head scratching stuff!!
Click to expand...

Yup, DCM used quite a variety of materials and design approaches. The TF-700s are part of the initial TimeFrame lineup that do not use coaxially-mounted Audax tweeters. Instead, they have a separately-mounted 8" woofer, 4" mid, and VIFA tweeter in a mirror-imaged arrangement. Pics can be seen on an earlier AK thread:

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=171233&page=2

The TF-600s (along with TF-275 and TF-400) were later models that switched to the coax design shared with the CX-17/27/31 speakers. Each approach has its fans, but all sound great.

BTW, regarding that eBay seller offering foam surrounds for TF-600 woofers, folks should be aware that the majority of TimeFrame woofers use butyl rubber surrounds and shouldn't need replacement for quite some time (although they occasionally come loose and need to be reattached to the frames). The only model that appears to consistently use foam is the TF-350. Some TF-250 woofers reportedly use foam, and others use coated cloth. Given production run changes, it's always best to check the specific speakers before buying parts.
 
I just found this thread and will be watching closely. I bought speaker cloth for my TF-600's nearly a year ago, but haven't had the guts to actually tackle the project.

Mine are my favorite speakers but pretty rough looking cosmetically.

All pics and info is very much appreciated! :nutz::nutz::nutz:
 
I've got a pair of 700s that I'm working on. The woofers have butyl surrounds which seem to be fairly stiff as in very little flexibility. Is this considered normal for these?
 
Count me in with those that have TF speakers, but have not gotten around to refurbishing them. It would be nice to put together a step by step recipe for restoring them then posting them as a sticky, including measurements/pattern for sock.
 
ronrico said:
I've got a pair of 700s that I'm working on. The woofers have butyl surrounds which seem to be fairly stiff as in very little flexibility. Is this considered normal for these?
Click to expand...

Based on what I have seen with several sets of TFs and CXs, I think this is normal. They're certainly much stiffer than any foam surrounds, but they aren't noticeably different from the butyl surrounds in my JBL L20t3s or AR M2s, which are of similar vintage.
 
Thanks Cygnus. I have other woofers that have butyl surrounds but are 'livelier'. If this is the way they're supposta be than that's how they gonna stay! I didn't want to get everything put back together only to have to take it all apart again.
 
ronrico said:
Thanks Cygnus. I have other woofers that have butyl surrounds but are 'livelier'. If this is the way they're supposta be than that's how they gonna stay! I didn't want to get everything put back together only to have to take it all apart again.
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The ones on the 600's I'm working on are soft, as are the surrounds on my Celestion's and other speakers with rubber surrounds. I've never come across any that were stiff. I don't think that's a good thing as it will restrict cone movement.
 
I only pulled the woofer out of the one cabinet since it's mate works well. So I don't know, but the surround on the one I did pull is pretty thick and stiff. ???
 
There is a set of TF600's on my local craigslist for $150. They have been up for some time and were just reposted today which reminded me I had considered buying them from before. From the pictures they appear to be in good shape. Do these speakers tend to hold up well over time? I mean they are 20 year old speakers. They ain't spring chickens! May just contact this dude and go check them out. And since they have been on cl so long maybe I can talk him down some!
 
sacflies said:
There is a set of TF600's on my local craigslist for $150. They have been up for some time and were just reposted today which reminded me I had considered buying them from before. From the pictures they appear to be in good shape. Do these speakers tend to hold up well over time? I mean they are 20 year old speakers. They ain't spring chickens! May just contact this dude and go check them out. And since they have been on cl so long maybe I can talk him down some!
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Hold up? Well the woofers have rubber surrounds, which under normal circumstances last rather long, especially compared to foam. You'll need to check that all drivers are firing, I'll have more images tomorrow so you'll know where to look and listen to make sure you at least hear them playing.

The only other thing to go will be the xover, eventually. Either from age or abuse. I can't speak on the availability of replacement drivers. Don't really know.
 
CygnusDen the foam I was referring to on the Ebay site is the foam that goes on the entire speaker behind the sock. This rots out over time. I'm fully aware of the rubber driver surrounds. I have replaced the socks on my TF600 and the foam wasn't in the best shape. His pieces fit perfect and so do the socks. Took me about 1 1/2 hours to recap the crossovers and replace the foam and sock on each speaker.
 
Copa1934 said:
Hold up? Well the woofers have rubber surrounds, which under normal circumstances last rather long, especially compared to foam. You'll need to check that all drivers are firing, I'll have more images tomorrow so you'll know where to look and listen to make sure you at least hear them playing.

The only other thing to go will be the xover, eventually. Either from age or abuse. I can't speak on the availability of replacement drivers. Don't really know.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. I have contacted the seller and he claims all the drivers work perfectly. He is the original owner and says they have been well taken care of. He did mention that the "socks over time have shrunk a little", but he didn't mention any tears or anything. I may offer $100 and see how he reacts. Again, he is asking $150. For $100 I think they would be hard to pass up. At $150 I am on the fence. I already have a pretty good set up in my 14 x 12 music/entertainment room with JBL E30's, EC25, and E10's and an Energy sub running off a H/K AVR1600. A pretty nice sounding budget system with all the speakers coming off craigslist. I guess I would lose the tonal match that the JBL's provide if I picked up the TF600's in place of the E30's as far as movie watching goes. But I would want to use the TF600's primarily for music listening. I could probably even incorporate both the E30's and the Timeframes together...using the E30's for movies and the Timeframes for music. But then what do I do when I play my newly purchased Oppo DV-980H for surround SACD play? I would lose the tonal matching of the JBL's in that case too.

On the fence and have to decide. The seller just emailed me asking if I want to buy the Timeframes or not. What to do...

Edit: Well, I will not be getting this set of TF600's. The dude selling them is just a real, uh, character. When I 1st emailed him on Saturday I clearly told him that I would not be able to take any action on them until Tuesday as I will be busy. In his listing he asks for anyone interested to leave a number, which I did. I asked him to please give me a call Monday night if he could to set up a time for me to come by and check out the speakers Tuesday. His response was, and I quote, “I can not guarantee anything for you as far as seeing them”. Well, that seemed weird. Does he want to sell the speakers or not? Obviously I am not buying the speakers if I can't atleast see them first...and hopefully hear them. Especially 20 year old speakers. He didn't mention anything about the price being firm in his listing. So I lowballed him (like any good craigslist buyer would do!) with a $100 offer. Well, maybe that pushed him over the edge and he threw up a stop sign and told me to forget it. I responded and told him that since he didn't mention that the price is firm I was only trying to start a little price negotiation, admittedly with a low ball offer. I again asked if the speakers were set up for demo just out of curiosity what he would say and he finally did say that they were but that "we have talked too much without any action so please find another pair". Dude, I told you right from the start I couldn't act on them until Tuesday! This dude seriously needs to take the Selling On Craigslist 101 class. Oh well. I guess this pair of TF600's just didn't have my name on them!
 
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Update images, almost complete

Just thought I'd show the progress on these babies.
 

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Awesome images, thanks!
I just got a pair of TF600s - nice to know whats in there!

Mine have the black caps -
I knocked them off right away and am clearing the black paint to get them back to a wood grain finish.
 
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Okay - so let me get this correct - To get the best imaging from them,
when looking at the front of them,
I want to put the woofers towards the center, or to the outer edge?
 
hjames said:
Okay - so let me get this correct - To get the best imaging from them,
when looking at the front of them,
I want to put the woofers towards the center, or to the outer edge?
Click to expand...
Here is the owners manual http://www.dcmspeakers.com/manuals/TF600.pdf the manual says it's ok to have the speakers near a "monitor" or TV, which would "imply" woofers on the inside. HOWEVER, each room has it's own dynamics which means YOU experiment with YOUR environment. What ever people say, take simply as advice and not gospel. I'm sure my room will yield different results from other listeners.
 
Well, I'm not planning to use them with a TV - at least I'm planning for a music only system ...
at the moment, they are flanked by the JBL 3 ways - but I'll move those out of the room a bit later.
 
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I believe you are right, my TF700's are original with the screen logo. They say the logo's should be to the inside and from my photo below, you can see where the woofers are oriented.

Hope this helps and enjoy a truely special, but maybe not well appreciated classic!

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