dirt cheap

20Hz-20Khz range, size

Listen to any familiar music on these, and immediately you can tell the freq response has big big problems. It is extremely unbalanced, sounds as if somebody messed up with a 5 band equalizer very badly.

too much bass, unbalanced mid : within mid frequencies some sub-ranges are overemphasized, some sub-ranges are attenuated. I am telling this after listening to some orchestral works, but even listening to Led Zeppelin is made a disturbing experience just because of this effect.

The stock sound system on my Jetta certainly sounds better, I do not exagerate.

Don't ever spend money on these.

-If you have to stay in this price bracket, get something smaller, but with better response (please try different stuff at your dealer, and try to hear the difference)

-Or better spare a couple of hundred more..


And while reading other reviews, please realize that some preople posting positive reviews are simply impressed by home theater experience in general, and they just attribute it to the speakers blindly (or deafly?).

Very crisp sound, with awesome bass, great for all purposes: music, movies, P/C games, and even house parties.

Neghbors complain too much about loud music, and bass.

Great Sound (highs, lows, and all the others) I've had these for about 4 years now, bought them of a friend who had them for a year, and got them special order from canada. I love the power they give out, as well as very clean sound. I use JVC RX 507V amp to power them, I can't go past 3 without the walls starting to shake and Neighbors complaining. (I live in an apartment building), but the speakers can handle more then that.

Similar Products Used:

JBL home theatre speakers, bose speakers, pioneer speakers with 15" subs. DCM'S are still my favorite. Check out DCM KX 6 for surround sound. Pretty much same as KX-12 but without the Subs and way smaller. Got a pair from e-bay in great condition and they exceeded my expectations.

Damn these speakers are POWERFUL! I returned my Bose AM-10 to Circuit City (based largely on commentary here and the 62 of 100 review in the 1/98 Home Theater). I double-blind demoed every speaker there--Bose AM's ($1000); JBL HLS's ($720); DCM KX's ($702); Infinity Overture 1, CC3, & REF2003's ($1450); and Carver Cinema 5.1 ($950) -with "Stargate" on DVD and various CD music.
My ranking for music was: Infinity, DCM, JBL, Carver, Bose.
My ranking for home theater was: DCM, Carver, Infinity, JBL, Bose.

Now I'm no Julian Hirsch, and I'm sure the DCM's lack clarity and refinement for soft classical or jazz on truly high-end equipment. But the KX-12's held their own against the powered Overture 1's for a third of the cost! I also felt the DCM surround package had far superior tonal matching than the Infinity's. IMHO the Carver's were too weak for music, the JBL's were flat and dull sounding, and the Bose AM's were simply noisy.

The $1000 credit at CC got me (2)KX-12's, (2)KX-6's, a KX-Center, and a Velodyne VA-907 sub! (The sub was a discounted 30-day return.) This set-up just blows away my old AM-10 package, although the huge KX-12's almost put me in divorce court as they dominate my quaint Cape Cod's living room. The sound stage is vastly improved (so much for Direct/Reflecting). Even with the left front speaker farther outboard (about 6' off-center) than I'd like (thanks to the damn front door), side to side sound transtions are nearly seamless. And with a mere 30W to the rears the KX-6's perform admirably. The Bose cubes in the rear had vaguely reproduced the movie sounds under the din of white noise and crackling.

For enthusiast level home theater or powerful music, the KX-12's are hard to beat-especially when you consider the price. For the money perhaps Energy's Take 5 or Def Tech's Pro Cinema would provide more clarity, as DCM's horn tweeter tends to blare a bit like a stadium loudspeaker. However their bass and mid-range are fantasic, and the shear punch of the DCM/Velodyne setup surely will raise a few eyebrows. Though far from perfect (who would expect such from $170 speakers), DCM's truly are a loud BANG for the buck. --Jeff Helmes

I'm probably like most of you guys: I like clarity and a good bass in my music. However, when I watch a movie, I want the effects to rumble the room. Pushing my KX-12's with a sony STR-GA8ES, I get all that and more. Maybe if I liked Jazz a little more, I would prefer the clarity of a cube system over the DCM's, but I am pleased with the sound and could not pass up the deal at Circuit City: Last pair they had with the grille mounted away from the cabinet for $260.00. Considering what others cost compared to what they offer, I feel I stole these!

Great speaker for the money! Although very efficient, you may need a high current amp/receiver when you crank it all the way up.
Can play very loud and still sound crystal clear. Sounded better than all the other speakers at Circuit City and blew away the Bose speakers (as well as my friend's Cerwin Vegas!).

Highly recommended for Home Theater!

I purchased the DCM KX-12 about two years ago at Circuit City. At the time I was on a very limited budget (still am)and was attracted to the price of the monstrous DCM's, $169/speaker. I am very pleased with them. I not much of a connisseur of classical or jazz, so the DCM's lack of perfect clarity does not bother me. The twin ports on the rear of the speaker really allow the speaker to hammer out the bass (enough to shake half the house). I'm running them with 100W each, but I think that they could use at least fifty more apiece.
I would highly recommend this speaker to anyone who wants good bang for their buck while still being able to enjoy good vocals.

I had about $1000 to spend on a stereo: receiver, speakers, cassette deck and VCR. No, I don't have CDs or desire one. I think a good cassette recorded in HiPro is just fine. Besides, I still have a record collection. After shopping and looking at all the multi-speaker home theaters, I realized I would not get any where near state of the art. I settled for JVC components and DCM KX 12 Series Two speakers. I listened to a lot of speakers in this price range and these had the best overall sound - to my ears. Most speakers in this price range are 8" or 10" and do not have deep bass response. I think DCMs sound as clear as JBLs, and DCMs have deeper bass. Cerwin Vegas sounded muddy in comparison. These DCMs go way down and sound good in the mid and high range as well. I am not planning on buying a sub-woofer as these speakers are low enough and loud enough all by themselves. The DCMs remind me of a pair of BIC 6s I had back in the 70's; good strong bass and overall smooth sound. I am very pleased with these speakers. Any one in the market for good, inexpensive, full range speakers that don't need sub-woofers should check these out.

The DCM KX-12 is now the called the "KX-12 Series Two" ($300 each). This speaker only has ONE 12 inch woffer. I paid $380 for the pair at Circuit City. The KX-212 ($400 each), which is now discontinued, had TWO 12 inch woffers.
Audio Review has allowed and/or published mistakes in the specs for both the DCM KX12 and the KX-212 speakers. Why?

These speakers suck if you turn them up the sound like crap they distort big time and trust me i have good reciever and amp , but when yo u turn them up the voice coil blows these speakers are junk

I recently upgraded my music system and for the most part I"ve been thrilled with the choices I've made. Unfortunately DCM speakers were not one of my better choices. The model I purchased @ Circuit City was the DCM KX-10 Series Two at $169 per speaker. I know that the DCM KX-12 is the speaker being reviewed here but there's not a lot of difference in the overall sound...with the possible exception of yet MORE booming bass. A little background about my system: Harmon Kardon AVR40 reciever, Harmon Kardon FL8300 CD player w/gold plated Monster Cable CD interconnects, and DCM KX-10 Series Two speakers(at least until I can get them back to Circuit City).
Monster 14 ga. speaker wire.
Speaker +'s...(1) big sound for the buck (2) very efficient
Speaker -'s...(1) Bass eventually seems to overpower everything else (2) poor imaging even after moving them around extensively (3) mid range didn't sound too bad but the upper range was FLAT (4) difficult to listen to for extended periods of time.
If your objective is to make ALL of your music sound similar these are the speakers for you. If you have any interest at all in acoustial music I recommend that you buy almost ANYTHING ELSE!
I've decided to replace the DCMs with either the B&W 602s or the Polk RT55s. I know that they are more expensive...appr. $275 per...but I've just had a major lesson in trying to skimp on speakers.