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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.

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    • ferrari
    gannon
    5 posts
     
    All due respect to the PR fellow from the new owners, but I used to be an occasional member of Bob Waterstripe's monthly breakfast club out at his house on North Territorial road. If you were the top seller of Time Windows in your store, you were welcome to his historic home for a killer breakfast...then a day of hanging with a few of the other salespeople from around Michigan, listening to the various systems Bob had in every room of the old judge's mansion.

    It was during the recession of the early-80s, and a bunch of failing dealers paid their bills with inventory. Every room was a treat. He had way more hifi than furniture.

    I would love to have seven of the original Time Windows to make a full surround system out of 'em. We used to pair them with Carver cubes in mono...and spiked them from the moment we discovered TipToes. Nothin' quite like 'em back in 1984.

    DCM stood for Drug Capitol of the Midwest, but I like Mitek's spin better. DeCriminalize is ok...but a bare minimum!

    Cheers,
    John
    Detroit
    carnotcycler
    1 posts
     
    I have a pair of the DCM Time Windows too. I think the are the finest speakers I have ever heard, bang for buck.

    Admittedly there is a large power spike in the sub-bass that comes up rarely, but it fascinates more than annoys.If you dont know want I mean try a good recording of Rite of Spring. It will BLOW YOU MIND
    philtheda
    1 posts
     
    Does anyone know how to decipher the year of manufacture by the serial number? Mine are 46702 and 46703. Mine must be an early vintage, since it has the foam type of grille covers, and not the cloth ones.

    After reading reviews and ads as a kid, and now having a set, I just love them, and wish I had a set decades ago. I am running them with a Sansui 9090, and the sound is beautiful.

    I am looking for any magazine ads and reviews of the original Time Windows, does anyone know which magazine issues had them? I can't remember now, but I can order them on Ebay if I know which issues they are. Would love to frame them. Does anyone know how to decipher the year of manufacture by the serial number? Mine are 46702 and 46703. Mine must be an early vintage, since it has the foam type of grille covers, and not the cloth ones.

    After reading reviews and ads as a kid, and now having a set, I just love them, and wish I had a set decades ago. I am running them with a Sansui 9090, and the sound is beautiful.

    I am looking for any magazine ads and reviews of the original Time Windows, does anyone know which magazine issues had them? I can't remember now, but I can order them on Ebay if I know which issues they are. Would love to frame them.
    helmutr
    1 posts
     
    I live in South Africa, and own a pair of ARD Time Windows. As I have it the Time Windows were designed by two students in collaboration, and as a final year project. One of the students emigrated to the USA, while the other - a Joachim Fabianek stayed on in South Africa.

    I bought my Time Windows and still enjoy every moment I listen to them. Just amazing what they can do with the right amplifier. Joachim told me that the best they can do is being driven by a valve (tube) amp, fed by a high-quality per-amp. At the time he suggested I try a Gunter Steinhard amp. After I listened to the combination I agree completely.

    Unfortunately it seems that Joachim has passed on (he lived in East London, RSA), and I can not get hold of anyone that knows anything about him or his family anymore. I dearly would like to try to continue what he was doing. I am not sure, but am guessing that the two students did not collaborate on later designs of speakers. Any info on this will be welcome.

    What I desperately would want to get hold of is a pair of Joachim's Aera speakers. If you love the Time Windows, you will be utterly amazed by what the Aeras can do. Even with the brilliant sound of the Time Windows, the Aeras are just so much better. With the advent of the AV sound systems, Joachim fell on hard times. The last time I spoke to him he offered to sell me a pair of Aeras at just over cost price, as he would have liked to organize some income for his enclosure (cabinet) maker. At the time I could not afford them, but I wish I had rather sold my car, wife, house, etc, and bought that last pair of Aera speakers.

    I just can not describe the tonal quality and absolute beauty of the music they delivered!

    Well, at least still have my Time Windows.

    Sorry! Got so carried away that I forgot to say: According to Joachim, the Time Windows were sold as a matched set. Each enclosure had a matched pair of speakers fitted, and this matched-pair had a matching matched-pair for the other enclosure, and that is why the serial numbers will be consecutive numbers.
    roundmoundofsound
    74 posts
     
    As a salesman then manager for the #1 DCM dealer in the late 70's and early 80's, I can answer a few questions about the original Time Windows, the QEDs (essentially 1/2 a Time Window) , the Macrophones, and other models at that tine.

    Bob Carver started using the Time Windows to demonstrate his Sonic Hologram, on the insistence of our stores' owner trying the Time Windows at our store. When TAS reviewed the Sonic Hologram, Carver told JWC (the reviewer in Atlanta for TAS) to use the Time Windows. The story could be found in TAS issue at that time.

    Depending on which of the 3 men listed below you talked to, DCM stood for either:
    1. Drug Capital of the Midwest (or Michigan)
    2. Dope Capital of the Midwest (or Michigan)
    3. Dats Cool Man

    Bob Waterstripe, Steve Eberback, and Howard Jacks were the men behind the scenes.

    Along with the Dahlquist DQ-10's, the original Time Windows were the affordable speakers to own. At the time, the list price for a set of Time Windows was $660.

    FWIW I used "stacked" QEDs powered by a pair of Kenwood L07M and a Marantz 7C. Pink Floyd's, "The Wall" was awesome. The stack acted like a line source with more of a point source imaging than the Time Windows.

    Yes if you looked at the cost of the materials (Phillips/Peerless drivers and very basic crossover, the box and only wood tops and bottoms, it was certainly a wonder of economics. But it's sound, while not SOTA, was really pretty good, especially for the money!
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