DCM TimeFrame TFE200 home theater speaker system
TFE200
DCM
TFE200
Loudspeaker maker DCM has been around just about as long, and has reconstituted itself and its product line nearly as many times, as Lynyrd Skynyrd. The late-1970s design that made DCM's name, the original TimeWindow, was a modest-sized columnar speaker (with transmission-line loading) that caused quite a stir among audio geeks of the day for its excellent imaging and good tonal balance. Over the ensuing decades, the TimeWindow and then TimeFrame labels have reappeared on various speakers targeted at different market niches. Our centerpiece in the here and now, the DCM TimeFrame TFE200, is but the latest example, and it emerges under the aegis of the Mitek family of car-, home-, and pro-audio companies, which now owns the brand. The new TFE200 is a quite large, tall, and narrow-but-deep three-way tower that boasts bass extension and output to match its imposing size. Conventionally ported through a wide, bottom-front duct and equipped with a striking perforated-metal grille, it's a handsome structure. DCM included complementary center- and surround-channel models in our kit, as well as one of its new 12-inch subwoofers, the 150-watt TB1212. SETUP: I placed the DCM family in my accustomed sites, with the center on a low stand below my Samsung big-screen TV, the surrounds on high side-wall shelves, and the sub to the left-rear of the left front tower. The TFE200s and the center-channel TFE60C have metal biwirable dual multiway posts — nice, at this price. Both models include the handsome metal grilles (those for the sub and surrounds are cloth), but after a rap on the TFE200's expansive sides generated an audible metallic clang alongside its rather hollow "thonk," I removed the grilles before listening.
DCM TimeFrame TFE200 home theater speaker system
TFE60C
DCM
Loudspeaker maker DCM has been around just about as long, and has reconstituted itself and its product line nearly as many times, as Lynyrd Skynyrd. The late-1970s design that made DCM's name, the original TimeWindow, was a modest-sized columnar speaker (with transmission-line loading) that caused quite a stir among audio geeks of the day for its excellent imaging and good tonal balance. Over the ensuing decades, the TimeWindow and then TimeFrame labels have reappeared on various speakers targeted at different market niches. Our centerpiece in the here and now, the DCM TimeFrame TFE200, is but the latest example, and it emerges under the aegis of the Mitek family of car-, home-, and pro-audio companies, which now owns the brand. The new TFE200 is a quite large, tall, and narrow-but-deep three-way tower that boasts bass extension and output to match its imposing size. Conventionally ported through a wide, bottom-front duct and equipped with a striking perforated-metal grille, it's a handsome structure. DCM included complementary center- and surround-channel models in our kit, as well as one of its new 12-inch subwoofers, the 150-watt TB1212. SETUP: I placed the DCM family in my accustomed sites, with the center on a low stand below my Samsung big-screen TV, the surrounds on high side-wall shelves, and the sub to the left-rear of the left front tower. The TFE200s and the center-channel TFE60C have metal biwirable dual multiway posts — nice, at this price. Both models include the handsome metal grilles (those for the sub and surrounds are cloth), but after a rap on the TFE200's expansive sides generated an audible metallic clang alongside its rather hollow "thonk," I removed the grilles before listening.
DCM TimeFrame TFE200 home theater speaker system
TP160BDP
DCM
TP160BDP
Loudspeaker maker DCM has been around just about as long, and has reconstituted itself and its product line nearly as many times, as Lynyrd Skynyrd. The late-1970s design that made DCM's name, the original TimeWindow, was a modest-sized columnar speaker (with transmission-line loading) that caused quite a stir among audio geeks of the day for its excellent imaging and good tonal balance. Over the ensuing decades, the TimeWindow and then TimeFrame labels have reappeared on various speakers targeted at different market niches. Our centerpiece in the here and now, the DCM TimeFrame TFE200, is but the latest example, and it emerges under the aegis of the Mitek family of car-, home-, and pro-audio companies, which now owns the brand. The new TFE200 is a quite large, tall, and narrow-but-deep three-way tower that boasts bass extension and output to match its imposing size. Conventionally ported through a wide, bottom-front duct and equipped with a striking perforated-metal grille, it's a handsome structure. DCM included complementary center- and surround-channel models in our kit, as well as one of its new 12-inch subwoofers, the 150-watt TB1212. SETUP: I placed the DCM family in my accustomed sites, with the center on a low stand below my Samsung big-screen TV, the surrounds on high side-wall shelves, and the sub to the left-rear of the left front tower. The TFE200s and the center-channel TFE60C have metal biwirable dual multiway posts — nice, at this price. Both models include the handsome metal grilles (those for the sub and surrounds are cloth), but after a rap on the TFE200's expansive sides generated an audible metallic clang alongside its rather hollow "thonk," I removed the grilles before listening.
DCM TimeFrame TFE200 home theater speaker system
TB1212
DCM
TB1212
Loudspeaker maker DCM has been around just about as long, and has reconstituted itself and its product line nearly as many times, as Lynyrd Skynyrd. The late-1970s design that made DCM's name, the original TimeWindow, was a modest-sized columnar speaker (with transmission-line loading) that caused quite a stir among audio geeks of the day for its excellent imaging and good tonal balance. Over the ensuing decades, the TimeWindow and then TimeFrame labels have reappeared on various speakers targeted at different market niches. Our centerpiece in the here and now, the DCM TimeFrame TFE200, is but the latest example, and it emerges under the aegis of the Mitek family of car-, home-, and pro-audio companies, which now owns the brand. The new TFE200 is a quite large, tall, and narrow-but-deep three-way tower that boasts bass extension and output to match its imposing size. Conventionally ported through a wide, bottom-front duct and equipped with a striking perforated-metal grille, it's a handsome structure. DCM included complementary center- and surround-channel models in our kit, as well as one of its new 12-inch subwoofers, the 150-watt TB1212. SETUP: I placed the DCM family in my accustomed sites, with the center on a low stand below my Samsung big-screen TV, the surrounds on high side-wall shelves, and the sub to the left-rear of the left front tower. The TFE200s and the center-channel TFE60C have metal biwirable dual multiway posts — nice, at this price. Both models include the handsome metal grilles (those for the sub and surrounds are cloth), but after a rap on the TFE200's expansive sides generated an audible metallic clang alongside its rather hollow "thonk," I removed the grilles before listening.
Loudspeaker maker DCM has been around just about as long, and has reconstituted itself and its product line nearly as many times, as Lynyrd Skynyrd. The late-1970s design that made DCM's name, the original TimeWindow, was a modest-sized columnar speaker (with transmission-line loading) that caused quite a stir among audio geeks of the day for its excellent imaging and good tonal balance. Over the ensuing decades, the TimeWindow and then TimeFrame labels have reappeared on various speakers targeted at different market niches. Our centerpiece in the here and now, the DCM TimeFrame TFE200, is but the latest example, and it emerges under the aegis of the Mitek family of car-, home-, and pro-audio companies, which now owns the brand.
The new TFE200 is a quite large, tall, and narrow-but-deep three-way tower that boasts bass extension and output to match its imposing size. Conventionally ported through a wide, bottom-front duct and equipped with a striking perforated-metal grille, it's a handsome structure. DCM included complementary center- and surround-channel models in our kit, as well as one of its new 12-inch subwoofers, the 150-watt TB1212.
SETUP
I placed the DCM family in my accustomed sites, with the center on a low stand below my Samsung big-screen TV, the surrounds on high side-wall shelves, and the sub to the left-rear of the left front tower. The TFE200s and the center-channel TFE60C have metal biwirable dual multiway posts — nice, at this price. Both models include the handsome metal grilles (those for the sub and surrounds are cloth), but after a rap on the TFE200's expansive sides generated an audible metallic clang alongside its rather hollow "thonk," I removed the grilles before listening.
MUSIC & MOVIES
The TimeFrame TFE200s are large, full-range speakers, so I began listening to them alone, in stereo. And full-range is no empty claim: These big boys go low, with generous output below 35 Hz or so and a generally warm, impact-rich bottom end. Material such as acoustic jazz yielded solid, powerful bass lines, but the overall mid-to-treble effect seemed a touch recessed. Removing the grilles (as already mentioned) and, especially, tilting the speakers rearward radically (about 10°) made a dramatic difference: The TimeFrames sounded brighter, clearer, and better defined all around.
DCM got the octave-to-octave balance mostly just about right (three-fourths the battle for any speaker design), so the TFE200s' presentation of vocals and instruments is natural and believable. On full-range stereo, I found both male and female vocals to be quite accurate, with just an occasional touch of chestiness or "hoo" on the former. Treble was relaxed but nicely extended (once the grilles were off and the speakers tilted back), with quite respectable though not world-class detail and transparency.
As to bass: Yes! The TFE200s produce lots of it, and they do so down to an impressive depth, with powerful output to well below 40 Hz (the lowest note usually encountered in pop/rock/jazz music) and useful response somewhat beyond. In fact, in my room, the DCMs could be a little overpowering in the middle "bass" octaves — say, between 60 and 240 Hz — which occasionally made things like jazz standup bass and deep male voices sound a touch heavy. Pulling the speakers farther from the wall seemed to help a bit, but there was only so far I could go, given the DCMs' size and my listening space.
Still, all of this adds up to truly kick-ass playback of rock & roll. A classic like David Bowie's Let's Dance CD serves up Hungry-Man portions of both level and bottom end, and the TFE200s — supported by 200 watts each from my multichannel power amp — happily obliged on both counts. The DCMs' middle-bass enthusiasm made Carmine Rojas's characteristic woody bass guitar seem a little growly, and they sounded a bit dynamics-shy and a hint "splatty" at really high levels, but both tendencies are true of most cost-conscious speaker designs. Even so, I surely haven't played "China Girl" this loud for a decade or two, and that's always a good sign! (Say, did Stevie Ray Vaughan ever play a better solo, or a more disciplined one, in his too-short life?)
The design of the TFE60C center speaker matches that of the TFE200s reasonably well: The center sounds just a bit brassier or brighter through the lower mids, but overall timbre-matching is about average. Listening from one or the other side, however, as you might when crowded to the edge of the sofa, revealed a measure of audible off-axis coloration: The TFE60C sounded noticeably fuller, even a bit boomy, from a 30° to 40° off-axis vantage point, despite its design scheme of single woofer plus passive radiator.
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The Short Form
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| Price $2,350 (as tested) / dcmspeakers.com / 800-566-5401 |
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Snapshot
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| DCM's TimeFrame TFE200 tower is a lot of loudspeaker for the money. |
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Plus
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•Lots of low end with good extension
•Fine octave balance for natural voices and instruments
•Good surround-channel performance |
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Minus
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•Center-channel tonality changes off-axis
•Main speakers need grilles removed for best sound |
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Key Features
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TFE200 ($1,000/pr)
•6.5-in woofer, 6.5-in passive radiator, 6.5-in midrange, 1.25-in dome tweeter; 45.8 in high, 21 in deep; 64 lb
TFE60C ($350)
•6.5-in woofer, 6.5-in passive radiator, 1.25-in dome tweeter; 20.5 in wide, 8 in high; 21.5 lb
TP160BDP ($500/pr)
•6.5-in woofer, 6.5-in passive radiator, (2) 1-in dome tweeters; 19.8 in wide, 8 in high; 14 lb
TB1212 ($500)
•12-in cone woofer, 12-in cone passive radiator; 150-watt amplifier; line- and speaker-level inputs, line outputs; variable level and crossover-frequency controls; phase, master power, and auto-on/off switches; 18.8 x 15 x 17.5 in (including drivers, grille, and connectors); 42 lb |
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Test Bench
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| The TFE200 has good low-frequency extension, controlled directivity, a fairly deep floor-bounce notch at 260 Hz, and some roughness above 400 Hz. The TFE60C center, meanwhile, demonstrated some lobing even directly on-axis, which grew considerably worse as the microphone was moved off center. The TP160BDP bidirec-tional surround has a notice-able null at 2 kHz. The TB1212 sub produced 112 dB at 62 Hz, but its SPL capability falls off at 30 dB/octave below that frequency. — Tom Nousaine |
And as for the matching TP160BDP surround speaker, despite its front-panel "Dipole/Bipole" switch, it's a single-woofer design; the second cone is a passive radiator. So the switch only throws the tweeters out of phase — which certainly has an effect, albeit a much milder and less audible one than from a true midrange-dipole surround, as with THX-certified models. Nevertheless, the TP160BDP proved a perfectly competent number, dutifully delivering ambience and effects with solid tonality and plenty of clean level in my 2,500-cubic-foot studio.
The TB1212 that DCM sent, a member of its new subwoofer corps, deploys a pair of 12-inch (duh!) cones — one active driver and one passive radiator — firing forward and downward in a fairly compact cabinet. This frankly didn't add much to the party: It didn't appear to go much lower or louder than the TFE200 towers on their own, and it suffered a bit of a "wolf" note or range near A-natural (around 55 Hz) that boomed noticeably whenever the music or the movie soundtrack contained strong elements straddling that pitch. For example, in Chapter 16 of The Italian Job (Wahlberg, not Caine, alas), the score includes a synth-drum sound that attacks at around A-flat and glisses down an octave as it fades. With the DCM sub in the system, the attack was a bit stronger. But with my (level-matched) everyday sub in its place, the sensual infrabass that's reached at the slide's lowest extreme was easily audible; with the TB1212, it was completely absent. (I hasten to add that the price of my everyday sub is three times that of the DCM sub.) I found that by connecting the TB1212 to my LFE output and rolling its crossover to its minimum setting (there's no filter-defeat control or crossover-bypass input), I could suppress this emphasis a bit and glean some additional total bass output, though with no important extension of depth, on big-bass effects.
But despite these quibbles, the DCM speaker suite makes for pretty damned hard-hitting home theater. The Italian Job is a legit big-screen audiofest, and it sounded exciting and impressive via the DCMs, with clear dialogue and crisp, high-impact effects. Watching a good hour of the film (for the umpteenth time), I forgot all about my fault-finding and simply enjoyed a complete, cinema-scaled, big-sound experience.
BOTTOM LINE
DCM's latest speakers have a long tradition to carry forward, and the DCM TimeFrame TFE200s do so quite well. The system really doesn't need this particular subwoofer — and if you add a sub at all, it should be one with substantial extension and output below 35 Hz. But the core five channels do a good job, with impressive size, at a great price.
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