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Review: DCM TimeWindow 1 Speaker

Category: Speakers

This review covers the orignal DCM Time Windows. Not the subsequent versions.

I remember the first time I heard these. Their unique shape and sound where unlike anything I had heard before. Here was a speaker that really delivered the promise. It was driven by a PS Audio Amp and PS Audio LCC PreAmp. At the time I had the Large Advents,and while those speakers were very good indeed, the Time Windows were clearly superior. The music just seemed to come alive in a way that's hard to describe. There was just a seamless transparency to them. Not overly bright or accentuated on the bass. The balance was right on. It didn't really matter what the program material was, the Time Windows clearly and with authority brought the music to life. If they had any real weakness is for some peoples taste the bass may have been on the light side. But for my taste it was as it should be. The orginals used Philips drivers using a transmission line and the cabinet construction contributed to the overall sound. In the late 70s these were not cheap at about $800.00 but were indeed worth the price of admission. I was finally able to acquire a pair of these and have them to this day. Few things one purchases in life have enduring value and the Time Windows truly are in that category. Of all the reviews I have read on these speakers not one reviewer has clearly defined the sonics of this fabulous speaker. Use all of the adjectives you want and one will still come up short in the description. Best way to describe them, if you love music and have better than average components connected to them, the Time Windows will deliver the music with a verve that will astound you.

Now these speakers are some 20 years or more in age and continue to deliver the music. And that's what this hobby is all about. DCM no longer produces the Time Windows,having opted for the HT route. This is a true shame as these speakers deserve continued production. Timeless design is just that.

Specifications:

  • Dimensions:36"H x 14 3/4"W x 11 3/4"D
  • Weight:32 Pounds
  • Power Requirements:10 Watts Minimum per channel 89 dB/watt at one meter;200 Watts Maximum
  • Impedance:5 Ohms minimum/6-8 Ohms nominal
  • Frequency Range:25Hz to 18 kHz
  • Dispersion:180 degrees horizontal/60 degrees vertical.

    Specifications do not tell the whole story,listening does. The Time Windows due to their configuration can be literally tuned to any room. That is due to their shape. This was a brilliantly executed design that has remained faithful all these years.

    Associated gear
    Click to view my Virtual System

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    • ferrari
    tjkoch1999's avatar
    tjkoch1999
    1 posts
     
    I still have a pair of DCM Time Windows that I use in my basement system. The foam grills disintegrated and removed them. They still sound awesome.
    horswispr
    1 posts
     
    I still have a pair of original Time Windows. They probably aren't as accurate, nor as dynamic, as many of the best modern speakers, but they're the speakers I always return to. In fact, I'm listening to my pair as I write. They're just really enjoyable and non-fatiguing, in my experience. I actually wrote a pretty thorough review on Epinions, to which I'll try and post a link. My Time Windows outlasted several well-known speakers in my collection, including Vandersteen 2Cis. I finally sold them (the Time Windows), regretted it, and scored a cosmetically challenged pair cheap, which I refinished and am now using (along with Cambridge Soundworks Towers, AR2axs, KLH 6s, and others, depending on my mood). Really nice speakers, I think.

    http://www.epinions.com/review/DCM_Time_Windows_epi/content_511587618436
    bonhamcopeland
    10 posts
     
    When I was a kid, my neighbor had a pair of these. He knew I played drums (for obvious reasons) so he had me over once to show off his brand new Sony CD player ("the way of the future, son"). He even had a flashy TEAC graphic EQ to boot. Man oh man, when he dropped in a Rush CD and all the levels started to jump up and down, I went a little spacey. I had never heard anything sound that amazing. I used to house sit for them and spent a lot of time listening to those Time Windows. But I can't remember "what" the sound was like. And as much as I'd love to hear those speakers again, I wonder if reality would hold up to my memory? Kind of like your old neighborhood looking smaller than you remember. Anyhow, those DCM's planted a seed and I'd like to think my younger self would approve of my "grown-up" rig. (Although he'd wonder what I was doing with all these old fashioned records and this laptop/dac/internet thingy.)
    bkk
    1 posts
     
    I have a pair of DCM Time Windows(they do not have any other numbers or letters )that I have had since 1980. I previously had a Denon DRA-300 running them. It has stopped, I thought I would seek some advise in a new set up. I also am running a pair of Klipsch bookshelf speakers(KSB 3.1)with the time windows. I have approx. 30ft lenghth to each. Any advise you have would be much appreciated?
    thank you
    princeoftides
    1 posts
     
    I bought a pair in the late 70s from Fat Julian's Audio in Atlanta based on Peter Aczel's review. Perhaps it was the amplification I used back then but I never really warmed up to them. Especially when I think back and realize now I could have gotten a pair of LS3/5a speakers for less money. They just didn't image as well as the LS3/5a speakers. And I wasn't into bass that much but I upgraded from a pair of ADS L-710 speakers and felt that the ADS really had bass slam that could produce drum kicks like no others from the period. The Time Windows just couldn't do that well.

    When we were at the showroom in Atlanta one of Julian's assistants A/B's the Time Windows against a pair of similarly priced Magnepans. The Magnepans sounded dull in the highs and my 3 friends and I were all impressed more by the Time Windows although I do recall the Magnepans could throw up a stage quite well even in those days. So maybe my amplification and preamplification just weren't good enough. I sold them to a friend and he's kept them for years and is still happy with his purchase.

    I've moved on to home built Linkwitz Orion speakers which are in another league altogether.

    I'm pretty sure one of the reasons I wasn't taken with the Time Windows is that I love to hear a 2 channel system create a 3D illusion of a soundstage and still do. I know now from experience that a preamp and amp can prevent a speaker from throwing that soundstage. But the LS3/5as can and do and so do the Magnepans -each in its own way. The midrange of the LS3/5a was also much more neutral than the Time Windows I'd love to hear the Time Windows with some of the newer better amplifiers that are out there as my opinion seems quite out of sync with the rest of this group and I sure as heck might change my opinion if I were to hear them again. I do still recall how we four college students all agreed that the Time Windows beat the pants off the Magnepans.

    Incidentally, I don't recall the high end as being dull. In fact, I wasn't taken with that metal dome tweeter at all.
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