Friday, October 8, 2010

DCM TimePieces

Update: I have redone the grill on one speaker. After an hour and I half I was cursing myself for having started. The crossover has to be desoldered from the leads and removed to wrap the cloth. Reconnecting is very difficult (or maybe just is for me), requiring soldering in very tight spaces. I did it, but dread the second. Fortunately, it was worth the trouble. It looks almost new.
I've had these for a while, and mentioned them before, but just got the spec sheet from a very helpful guy at DCM. They are naked right now. I will redo the grills shortly, and refinish the solid oak top and bottom caps. They image beautifully, which was always the characteristic of DCM speakers (TimeWindows & TimeFrames) that set them apart. I'm sure that the coaxially mounted tweeter is part of the reason. I'm quite sure that the drivers are made by Audax (because the TimeFrames' are).

I also found (from another source) what looks like a dedicated passive subwoofer, called DoubleTime. Ithas very weak output at the moment, but does work. I think I have to replace all the crossover components, or at least the resistors. I look forward to hearing the whole system together, and the guy at DCM is working on finding specs for it. There is great potential for the whole system, but the TimePieces are something special all by themselves.

4 comments:

Kurt said...

I remember DCM speakers. They were out of my price range, though.

New Isetta said...

Does the picture mean that the woofer is blocked off for the better part? Seems like a waste, literally. Have you tried removing those side panels I see on the front?

Unknown said...

I have a pair of them and I took the woofer out and replaced them with a woofer from some tf-600. WOW what a dif. the base now digs deep and is very impressive. I want another pair

Anonymous said...

I bought a pair if these on Thursday at a thrift store in town for $29.00.
I looked up the specs and found that they can handle between 10-80 watt @ 8-ohms.
I am playing them with a Yamaha Rex-496 receiver and they sound good. I am listening to some classical string music as I type and they play violins well, but, as others have said, need the bass augmented. I have the bass knob turned up to +3 and am happy for now. I will hook them up to a sub later and they probably will start to shine.
I will say that I didn’t need these speakers but have always been curious about the old DCM speakers. I stupidly turned down purchasing a pair of TF-400s I found at a thrift for $75.00. I researched them when I got home and went back the next day and they were gone. These speakers sound good so I can only imagine how good the Time Frames and Time Windows must sound. Maybe I’ll get lucky again further on down the road and snag a pair because now I have a smartphone to do research on the spot.