Review: DCM TimeWindow 1 Speaker

Yes, I also have a response buried waaay back there somewhere over a year or so ago....what a thread! You're review was certainly spot on.

I still haven't replaced my cat-torn grill material but I intend to.
I'm still amazed at the performance of these speakers after 27 years. I also had a pair of the TW-7s but foolishly let them go a couple of years ago. They were also great speakers and I wish I'd tried a few simple tweeks on them. For instance, they should have had some acoustic damping material inside to eliminate any trace of standing waves, and the bass port could have been reduced to tighten/quicken the bass a bit.

Has anyone heard these speakers (originals) stacked...That is, two pair stacked on top of each other either biwired of jumpered? They really did sound great that way; a much bigger and more relaxed presentation. When used that way the upper speakers should be upside down to provide better focus and imaging. A friend managed a high end show in Carmel, CA, at the time and we used to enjoy the hell out of trying such things. Anyone remember Audio Components of Carmel and Keith Yates? Keith is now designing state-of-the-art rooms and theaters in the Sacremento area. (Keithyatesaudio.com)

Used alone, a single pair benefits from being elevated a bit. I recall someone doing a study and coming up with them sounding best exactly 9 inches above the floor. I took that as gospel and built two stands from solid black walnut slabs exactly 9 inches high and shaped exactly like the TW endplates. They were difficult to fashion (using a chain saw, 5" sanding disk on the end of an electric drill, and a pad sander) but well worth it. The most difficult part was getting the tops and bottoms perfectly parallel. The TWs do sound very good perched on those and it also seems to help to keep a little weight on the speakers to couple the array to the floor. Bronze statues do the trick for me.

Those speakers still are sounding great in my downstairs system. They are very close to the back wall in this configuration, but for some reason they sound superb that way....plenty of bass! Lack of deep bass was considered this speaker's greatest weakness way back when.

As I recall from the original DCM owner's manual (which I still have), DCM's recommendation was to keep them a minimum of 36" from rear and side walls, which I did religiously. But now I think they sound much better with more rear wall reinforcement of the bass. Back when they were anchoring my main system I didn't do all that much experimenting with positions because of decor considerations, but I usually kept them 36" out measured from the speakers' backs to the rear wall. I had them as close as 24", but I'm wondering why I didn't try them closer than that. I suppose I thought they'd lose imaging and I'd be excommunicated from any pretense of residence in audiophiledom or something.

I was in contact with Steve Eberbach a few years back and he was still involved in audio research at the time. He was working with some very talented people on some revolutionary concepts in the whole transducer/psycho-acoustic relationship, but he was obviously still very proud of his Time Windows....and for very good reason!

Tom E.

Islandbird and I must have read the same comment, regarding Time Windows, at about the same time, that 9" inches would raise and improve one's image greatly. At about the same time the same comment also appeared in Playboy in a John Holmes interview. Must be in the numbers.

Anyhow, I immediately constructed, although not out of solid black walnut, speaker stands that raised the Time Windows exactly 9" off of the floor with great results. For years I also was neurotic about keeping the speakers exactly the prescribed 36" from the back wall of my room.

However, now I am forced to place them much closer to the wall in their current room with the same results, improved base and I must admit, only slightly dimished depth of image. The conclusion I have come to after all of these years is simply that these speakers image better under similiar conditions than most other speakers and certainly in in their price range.

The day that I bought mine I went to the Audio shop knowing that I was going to buy either Time Windows or Dahlquists. It didn't take very long in the listening room to make my solid choice, and it was the imaging that made it. It is still the quality that makes new listener's jaws drop.

I live in the university area of town and have many neighbors who are students. When any of them come into my house they are invariably amazed to hear music, "sound like that". I am also happy with my role reversal status. I am the only long term elderly resident of the neighborhood who has students ask them to,"turn the music down and please keep it a little more quiet".

I can't help but think that the current owners of DCM have thier head up their butts. Since I posted this review there has been over 14,000 hits on this post and over 120 posts to this review. These are strong numbers on a dedicted site such as Audiogon.

Clearly with these numbers in mind, it warrants DCM to once gain offer the Time Windows from this period of time.There new Time Windows are sad commentary to the originals that were produced.

It is very apparent by this thread and posts that the market continues to exist for the original Time Windows.

Although DCM produces speakers in the already crowded market of HT. Their home audio is not on par. For a company has to grow its revenues by 10% per year to remain viable, I do not see that in the HT speaker field that is already over populated with HT speakers.

If anyone from DCM reads this thread, here is a perfect way to reintroduce a classic you already own, with an existing market built in. I know what I would be doing if I was sitting in the DCM Presidents chair. Its a no brainer.

Amen! I'd be camped in line to buy a pair along with my five kids, who grew up with TWs, all of whom lavish me with gifts in hopes that they will be the "choosen one" who's name appeaars in the will along side of the Time Windows.

Islandbird, I really appreciate your comments on DCM's distance from the back wall. I apologize for my previous comments-they were meant to extract information, such as yours. This thread has gotten those most comments on Audiogon that I've ever seen(I've only gotten about 6,000 on mine.). I agree with Ferrari's last comments(I'm actually a horn-guy, but off-axis response of the DCM's allows me to listen to music.). To help people to get the best from the original Time-Windows, I have them on maplewood, with some isonodes under them, a little further than 2 feet from the back wall(one is a corner-one has an opening). I tried those stands that elevated them about 9-inches. I hope you don't care about the bass. Actually, those stands weren't rigid, at all.