DCM CX-07 Speaker System Review

The DCM CX-07 is a small, light, and inexpensive two-way loudspeaker based on a 6-1/2-inch woofer operating in a vented enclosure. The high frequencies are handled by a 3/4-inch soft-dome tweeter, damped and cooled by magnetic fluid. Somewhat unconventionally, the woofer is located on the upper half of the front panel, with the tweeter below it. DCM says that the design and placement of both the drivers and the crossover contribute to a natural sound distribution and good imaging over a wide range of locations.

Both of the CX-07’s drivers are magnetically shielded so that it can be placed close to a TV set or video monitor without picture interference. Another concession to the growing popularity of home theater is the packaging of the speakers as single units to simplify the purchase for anyone wanting to use a CX-07 as, say, the center-channel speaker in a home theater installation.

The front of the CX-07’s cabinet is covered by a removable black cloth grille on a plastic frame. The input connectors, recessed into the back panel, are insulated spring clips that will accept single or dual banana plugs as well as wire ends (lugs or bare heavy-gauge wire are not suitable, however). The woofer port is also located on the rear panel.

We placed the DCM CX-07 speakers on 26-inch stands for listening and testing. They were about 9 feet apart, 3 feet from the side walls, and 2 feet in front of the wall behind them.

The room response, averaged from both speakers at a single microphone location, was exceptionally smooth and uniform from 200 Hz to 20 kHz. At lower frequencies the room boundaries inevitably affected the measured response, although it remained unusually strong considering the size of the woofer cones.

A close-miked measurement of the woofer response, combined with a measurement at the port, indicated a substantial output down to the vicinity of 30 Hz, a maximum at 100 Hz, and a downward slope from there to about 1 kHz. Splicing the bass response to the room response produced a composite frequency response with a moderately elevated output below about 300 Hz, to a maximum of about + 6 or + 7 dB at 100 Hz. Above 300 Hz the output was exceptionally flat and smooth, remaining within a 2.5-dB range from 300 Hz to beyond 15 kHz.

A response measurement at close range, with a sweeping one-third-octave noise signal, confirmed the excellence of the speaker’s response from 100 Hz to 20 kHz. When the curve was smoothed to minimize the effects of the minor irregularities inherent in most loudspeaker measurements, its variation was a mere ± 1 dB over that entire range. Although this figure does not mean that the speaker’s output at every frequency in that range remained within those limits (actual variations between the one-third-octave measurement steps were typically about 2 to 3 dB), it says a lot about the CX-07’s overall octave-to-octave response. This characteristic has a great deal to do with the overall balance and quality of a speaker’s sound.

The system’s horizontal dispersion was measured in the same manner and was likewise very good. At 45 degrees off the forward axis, the output had dropped by 2 dB in the range of 2 to 5 kHz, by 4 dB at 10 kHz, and by 10 dB at 20 kHz, all somewhat better results than for most speakers we have tested.

Our quasi-anechoic MLS response measurements showed a rather uniform output (within 2 or 3 dB overall) from 2.5 to 10 kHz. In the next higher octave, a sharp ±4-dB jog at about 16 kHz (which appeared as a barely discernible “blip” in the room measurements) clearly marked the upper tweeter resonance, although it was too high in frequency and narrow in bandwidth to be audible.

The CX-07’s sensitivity measured 90 dB, close to the rated 91 dB. At 2.83 volts input, its distortion averaged about 0.5 percent from 2 kHz down to 150 Hz, rising smoothly to 2 percent at 70 Hz, 5 percent at 40 Hz, and just 10 percent at 20 Hz. That’s remarkably low distortion for a single 6‘/2-inch woofer in a small box.

The CX-07’s impedance characteristic was among the best we have seen lately from the standpoint of amplifier compatibility. With low readings of 6 ohms at 20, 50, and 200 Hz and highs of 20 ohms at 32 Hz, 28 ohms at 90 Hz, and 22 ohms at 2.2 kHz, it should pose no problems for any respectable amplifier. In single-cycle pulse tests, the speaker handled all the power our amplifier could deliver at 1 and 10 kHz (550 and 690 watts, respectively). At 100 Hz, however, the small woofer showed its limitations, exhibiting visible waveform distortion at inputs as low as 5 watts, but not sounding particularly “hard” until the pulse peak reached 165 watts.

The best news is that the CX-07 sounded every bit as good as it measured. Whether viewed from the standpoint of size or price, it is clearly an excellent choice for either a basic music system or a Dolby Pro Logic home theater setup.

The moderately lifted bass response from 50 to 200 Hz gives the system a feeling of solidity that many small speakers lack. Although it will not shake the floor on low bass notes, it delivers enough fundamental energy to let you know they are present. We confirmed that the CX-07’s could reproduce an audible 31.5-Hz fundamental, and at 40 Hz one would think speakers several times their size were in use. Their virtues were not limited to the bass, however: Overall smoothness and balance were also excellent, and imaging was among the most accurate we have yet experienced from the Chesky JD37 test disc.

What we heard (and, to some degree, measured) from the DCM CX-07 would do credit to many far larger and costlier speakers. At its price, it is a steal. It is only fair to point out that the CX-07 is not a handsome piece of furniture, nor does it have a fine wood finish, but few speakers in its price range do. You should also realize that there are now a number of very nice-sounding speakers priced at $250 a pair or less. Even so, the CX-07 is certainly one of the top-ranking speakers in its class.

Read all

DCM reviews

Read all