Why your dang cat is not welcome in my house
By The Horse
@TheHorse (214031)
Walnut Creek, California
November 9, 2015 6:16pm CST
I love all animals, but I don't allow kitties in my house. Why not? Because the best vintage loudspeakers in my house (my "references," as we like to say in the vintage audio hobby business) are DCM Time Windows, and DCM Time Windows look like scratching posts for kitties. Every time I see a pair of these speakers on eBay or Craigslist, it says something like "Great sound; all drivers original; wood in good condition; but the cat got to the screens." These things were designed by a small company in Ann Arbor Michigan in the late 1970s, and were a cult favorite among audiophiles in the 1980s. The sound is so good that nothing I've had here has been able to outlast them. The screens are no longer made. So there you have it. If your cat sees the picture I'm posting, she'll probably start rubbing up against your computer screen. These things are cat magnets. But they sound great. For those who care about such things, that's a pair of Dynaco A-25s in the background, with the scratching post--I mean, a single DCM Time Window--in the foreground.
13 people like this
10 responses
@allknowing (132209)
• India
10 Nov 15
I can imagine that scene. They look cute while doing that. I have had so many of these strays making our home theirs. But male cats leave a spray around specially on curtains. I do not encourage that.
1 person likes this
Just about anything that will stand still is a scratching post for a determined cat. @allknowing (132209)
• India
10 Nov 15
Is there no place in your house where your precious belongings could be stored away from those claws? 
@allknowing (132209)
• India
10 Nov 15
@TheHorse I suppose you have to choose between your loud speakers and those cute 'dangs'
@TheHorse (214031)
• Walnut Creek, California
25 Nov 15
@allknowing I practice my hissing every night. The speakers are safe at the front of my listening room.
@birjudanak (14320)
• India
10 Nov 15
feel sorry for it but cat may be angry at that time so it do that .is she neighbour cat or just local?
@TheHorse (214031)
• Walnut Creek, California
10 Nov 15
@birjudanak Not sure I understand the question. I DO leave my front door open fairly often. But I actually worry as much about wayward raccoons ambling in as kitties. I've even had a couple of doves fly in.
1 person likes this
@BethieAnnie (818)
• Dayton, Ohio
25 Nov 15
That speaker does look like a cat scratching post! By the way, I think that is one of the more attractive speakers you have posted. That's the secret cat part of me talking! Do you restore these?
@TheHorse (214031)
• Walnut Creek, California
25 Nov 15
I do. I restored the tops of the DCM Time Windows, but not their "innards." They sound good as is. I'm partial to the early 1970s "boxes" I usually restore because the cases are beautiful walnut wood and the innards are easy to access (though the woofer cutouts). But I can't deny that the DCM Time Window scratching posts are incredible-sounding speakers. Meow.
@TheHorse (214031)
• Walnut Creek, California
25 Nov 15
@BethieAnnie Now you have me wondering too. Their designer, Steve Eberbach, lived in Michigan when he designed these in the 1970s. Maybe he was a cat lover and saw them as a dual-purpose item.
@BethieAnnie (818)
• Dayton, Ohio
25 Nov 15
@TheHorse This does make me wonder something. Was the DCM Time Window invented before or after the scratching post?
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (159754)
• United States
10 Nov 15
It would be hard to find a place in my house to keep them away from Princess. I understand your concern.
@just4him (317038)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
10 Nov 15
I can totally understand why you wouldn't want a cat in your house, especially seeing that speaker.
@JudyEv (334404)
• Rockingham, Australia
10 Nov 15
Why aren't the screens made any more? Have they stopped making speakers like this?
