Hey Guys, just wanted to come out and say that I was the one that purchased this unit. I know there was some speculation about who bought it but I wanted to wait until the unit was paid for and arrived/tested before saying anything. Firstly this wasn't something that I could afford at the present time so I needed to pay for it using PayPal credit. Unfortunately, the seller configured their PayPal account wrong and checkout wouldn't work properly. We went back/forth with eBay and PayPal on the phone for a long time before PayPal finally fessed up and informed me that they have flagged this item as a suspicious transaction and therefore, they would not permit me to use PayPal credit on this transaction. In the end, we cancelled the sale and Aiwa relisted it as a BIN. The second time went right through. Different transaction, different item number, PayPal was none the wiser.
As I knew I would not be participating in the Vegas event, purchasing this and bumping up the sales price was the only way that I felt I could help out the group. After all, I had a blast at the west coast event hosted at Melly's place and it seemed like there was going to be a lot of first timers going this time around. Another thing was that since Aiwa was gracious enough to sponsor the event with the sale of this item, it seemed to me like it would be a darn shame if this item would have been sold to someone not even associated with Boomboxery -- so I made sure that it did not happen!
Normally, this isn't an item that I would purchase. Not my style, not the features I would've wanted, etc. I bid not thinking that I was buying an Aiwa EOS-9, rather I bid thinking that this was a benefit auction with proceeds going to help the guys rent out their event hall to gather and ogle at everyone else's boomboxes. Immediately afterwards, I did feel some guilt and remorse in making a purchase I really shouldn't have nor could afford. However, in retrospect, I'm glad that I did buy it. I'll put up a complete review on WikiBoombox when I get a chance. But let's just say that this is a good crossover audio device in terms of sound quality. Boomboxes has always been on a sub-par level when compared to home audio gear. However, the sound quality produced by this Aiwa is a step up compared to traditional boomboxes although I'm not quite prepared to call it equivalent to home-audio gear which is why I say crossover device. I could listen to this all day long with little to no listening fatigue, which is not the case with most boomboxes. It's the perfect workhorse device for my workshop or office for all day listening in a compact package that doesn't require a huge stereo rack with separate speakers.
I don't see much visual difference between this prototype and the regular ones being offered for sale although I am told that the speaker rings are chrome as opposed to painted plastic, that there was some differences in the back cabinet shell, and that it had no serial number? The note included with the item on Aiwa letter head authenticating it as a prototype owned by Joe Born was a really nice touch and for collectors, would be something to laminate or frame up due to the items historical (or trivia) significance. Anyway, here it is. It does sounds awesome! To the coordinators of this event, please take a moment and thank Joe Born & Co for their sponsorship. And because they sponsored the event, I do hope someone brings one of these things to the event since after all, for Aiwa's contribution, the least they should get in return is an opportunity to show off their device to the collectors participating in this meet. If it is necessary for me to ship this out to you guys, let me know. It might be a burden to handle a package properly packed and ship back/forth to the event and for the cost of the shipping to/fro but again, I suppose Aiwa deserves to have one of their products represented at the event.
Aiwa_Exos-9.jpg
Which is totally understandable...
Can't wait for it all
