This is my first post here so I hope that I am not accused of being a shill or anything like that.
I was looking for a good deal on some speakers for my HT and I noticed on the DCM site that if you traded in the top-caps and serial and model numbers of any old TimeFrame or TimeWindow speaker that you could purchase a pair of TFE 200's for $600-shipped. Well, there was a pair of TimeFrames at the local pawn shop for less than $50 so I said, what the hell, why not? When I called Mitek (DCM's parent company) they stated that their original intent was to offer this deal to folks whose older speakers had failed but they didn't really convey that message in their online description of the offer so they revised it - the offer that is, not the description. You just needed to tell them the serial and model numbers and you would receive the discount. So I ordered a pair thinking I'd try them for a while and if I didn't like them, I'd sell them for a (hopefully) small loss.
They arrived fairly quickly after I ordered them - within a week IIRC. The packaging was nothing extraordinary - just two cardboard boxes with Styrofoam inserts and that's it.
Anyway, I unpacked them and the fist thing that I noticed was that they were a bit lighter than I was hoping for, at least for their size, which is massive. Seriously, these are probably the deepest speakers of similar design that I know of.
I hooked them up to a rather modest NAD and SHURE amp/preamp combo with the source being an old Yamaha CD changer run through a cheap no-name DAC that I happen to like. Like I said, it was a
modest setup. The good news is that the speakers sounded really good through this inexpensive gear. I think what I've read in ALL of the reviews has been pretty spot on - very detailed midrange if a little cold/not really lush or seductive, very little sibilance, and incredibly deep bass for two 6-1/2" woofers. They throw an amazing soundstage though imaging isn't as precise as some of my other speakers. So if this seems kind of like a repeat of what the reviewers had to say, well, that's because it is. Like I said, I agree with pretty much everything they had to say about the TFE 200's. It just so happens that a large, float-y soundstage and crisp detailed and defined midrange is exactly what I was looking for in an HT speaker.
Now I think the problem comes in when people get overly excited about their new toys and start spreading hyperbolic statements all over the place. I purchased a digital copy of the
Sensible Sound review and the reviewer NEVER once stated that the TFE's 200's were the best speakers that he's ever had in his room. No offence but I think our friend HiFiSoundGuy may have a slight problem with reading comprehension. What the reviewer actually said was that they had bass that went AS deep as any speaker that he's had in his listening room and that they were also the largest. Another quote that (even he admits) should be taken with a grain of salt is the following:
Overall, the speaker's tonality reminds me of what one hears at trade shows from $5-figure speakers targeted at audiophiles.
I've seen this out-of-context quote bandied about several times by folks who then neglect to post the man's follow up:
However, making comparisons like this should always be taken with a grain of salt. Music lovers are warned that the tonality of this speaker is not the best match for CDs of merely average quality.
If you read the entire review, I think it's pretty clear that he's not trying to say that the TFE's are as good as $5,000 speakers, but that their tonality reminds him of some of the speakers in that price-range - albeit far less refined.
If it seems like I'm trying to downplay or criticize these speakers - I am not. They are very competitive in their price-range and perhaps a bit higher and they have a certain characteristic sound that is appealing to me, for my purposes anyway. However they are
not "world-beaters" and they do not compete very well with competent speaker designs in the 5K range. With the right gear though, they might not be too embarrassed by speakers in the 5K-range but they wouldn't be bringing home any awards either.
Actually, what I
really want to stress that these
are good speakers for the price and they do not deserve to be dragged down into the mud because of one overenthusiastic poster.
Check these reviews at
Secrets and
Positive Feedback. Both of these reviews are very accurate IMO. The SS review is also accurate and is much more technically written. There are many graphs and such that were omitted from my digital copy so, if you are interested in that info, you should give them a call and buy the back issue.
Hmm... I think that's all.
Now back to lurking and saving my pennies for a pair of Selah 3D's for my two-channel setup. aa
