After getting the Aiwa 660 and being so surprised by it's size and sound I decided to put it to the test against the midsize benchmark boombox...the JVC M70. I will be judging them on these categories: Tuner, Cassette, Line input, and Overall Sound Quality.
DIMENSIONS: JVC (W) 21 1/2", (H) 11 1/2", (W) 5 1/4"
Aiwa (W) 21 1/4", (H) 12 1/2", (W) 5"
TUNER: The JVC tuner has 4 shortwave channels as well as MW and FM. It was able to pick up all local stations but generally both arials had to be all the way up to get a strong signal. MW and FM channels come in loud and clear with pretty good sensitivity. The Aiwa was able to pick up all local stations with the arial down and with great sensitivity. The Aiwa also has stronger volume than the JVC on the tuner setting. Winner.....Aiwa
CASSETTE: The JVC has a mechanical cassette with very rigid controls mounted on top. The tape selector allows you to choose between Normal/Chrome/Metal tape types. The JVC has a reputation for having one of the most rugged cassette decks and is virtually bullet proof. The cassette play starts out slow for a brief second then gets to normal playing speed. All the cassette buttons must be pushed very firmly for operation. The play speed is very accurate and sound is crisp and clear. The JVC also has a 16 song music search function.
The Aiwa has pro-logic controls mounted on the front below the cassette door. It also has Normal/Chrome/Metal tape capabilities. The tape controls and operation on the Aiwa are silky smooth and the sound is magnificent. Not much you can do to improve on this cassette deck. Winner....Aiwa.
LINE INPUT: The JVC has excellent line input sensitivity. Using my ipod at about 3/4 volume the JVC plays loud and clear at all volume levels. The distortion is barely heard even at full volume. The Aiwa is much less sensitive. At the same input volume the Aiwa has to be turned up much louder to get to normal listening levels. Winner....JVC
OVERALL SOUND QUALITY: BASS: The JVC has a very strong, punchy bass response as if the voice coils are wound very tightly. The JVC handles music that is not bass heavy very well. With todays oversampled, bass heavy music, I had to turn the bass down to flat. On the plus side once you have the bass adjusted properly the JVC has the power to crank at full volume with little distortion and ear piercing decibels.
The Aiwa has smooth, deep bass that comes on very strong at lower volumes. The problem is at over half volume the Aiwa's power cannot sustain the bass output and the bass must be adjusted way down. When adjusted properly the Aiwa performs well at high volume, just not as well as the JVC. This was a hard one to judge because the JVC comes alive at half to full volume and blows the Aiwa away, the Aiwa has the deeper, smoother bass below half volume at normal listening levels. Winner...Aiwa.
TREBLE: The JVC has very crisp highs with awesome detail and clarity. Its because of this that the JVC can be heard for blocks when playing outdoors. The Aiwa takes a different approach. It's highs are tuned to be detailed yet blend smoothly with that buttery bass. Because I like sharp, detailed highs the Winner is....JVC.
SUMMATION: This was a very difficult challenge for me because I love the M70 and it was difficult to be impartial. That should let you know how really good the 660 is that it could challenge the M70. These boomboxes seem to be designed with different customers in mind. The JVC is powerful, loud, and built for the street and it's sound is taylored to perform really well outdoors...and yet it does all the subtle things well. The Aiwa is classy, smooth, refined, and does all the things a boombox designed for indoor use should and yet it can perform ok outdoors. Indoors the Aiwa outshines the JVC, but barely. Outdoors it is a no-contest for the JVC and this is the main reason the JVC is declared the overall WINNER...not a TKO by any means but definitely a majority decision
DIMENSIONS: JVC (W) 21 1/2", (H) 11 1/2", (W) 5 1/4"
Aiwa (W) 21 1/4", (H) 12 1/2", (W) 5"
TUNER: The JVC tuner has 4 shortwave channels as well as MW and FM. It was able to pick up all local stations but generally both arials had to be all the way up to get a strong signal. MW and FM channels come in loud and clear with pretty good sensitivity. The Aiwa was able to pick up all local stations with the arial down and with great sensitivity. The Aiwa also has stronger volume than the JVC on the tuner setting. Winner.....Aiwa
CASSETTE: The JVC has a mechanical cassette with very rigid controls mounted on top. The tape selector allows you to choose between Normal/Chrome/Metal tape types. The JVC has a reputation for having one of the most rugged cassette decks and is virtually bullet proof. The cassette play starts out slow for a brief second then gets to normal playing speed. All the cassette buttons must be pushed very firmly for operation. The play speed is very accurate and sound is crisp and clear. The JVC also has a 16 song music search function.
The Aiwa has pro-logic controls mounted on the front below the cassette door. It also has Normal/Chrome/Metal tape capabilities. The tape controls and operation on the Aiwa are silky smooth and the sound is magnificent. Not much you can do to improve on this cassette deck. Winner....Aiwa.
LINE INPUT: The JVC has excellent line input sensitivity. Using my ipod at about 3/4 volume the JVC plays loud and clear at all volume levels. The distortion is barely heard even at full volume. The Aiwa is much less sensitive. At the same input volume the Aiwa has to be turned up much louder to get to normal listening levels. Winner....JVC
OVERALL SOUND QUALITY: BASS: The JVC has a very strong, punchy bass response as if the voice coils are wound very tightly. The JVC handles music that is not bass heavy very well. With todays oversampled, bass heavy music, I had to turn the bass down to flat. On the plus side once you have the bass adjusted properly the JVC has the power to crank at full volume with little distortion and ear piercing decibels.
The Aiwa has smooth, deep bass that comes on very strong at lower volumes. The problem is at over half volume the Aiwa's power cannot sustain the bass output and the bass must be adjusted way down. When adjusted properly the Aiwa performs well at high volume, just not as well as the JVC. This was a hard one to judge because the JVC comes alive at half to full volume and blows the Aiwa away, the Aiwa has the deeper, smoother bass below half volume at normal listening levels. Winner...Aiwa.
TREBLE: The JVC has very crisp highs with awesome detail and clarity. Its because of this that the JVC can be heard for blocks when playing outdoors. The Aiwa takes a different approach. It's highs are tuned to be detailed yet blend smoothly with that buttery bass. Because I like sharp, detailed highs the Winner is....JVC.
SUMMATION: This was a very difficult challenge for me because I love the M70 and it was difficult to be impartial. That should let you know how really good the 660 is that it could challenge the M70. These boomboxes seem to be designed with different customers in mind. The JVC is powerful, loud, and built for the street and it's sound is taylored to perform really well outdoors...and yet it does all the subtle things well. The Aiwa is classy, smooth, refined, and does all the things a boombox designed for indoor use should and yet it can perform ok outdoors. Indoors the Aiwa outshines the JVC, but barely. Outdoors it is a no-contest for the JVC and this is the main reason the JVC is declared the overall WINNER...not a TKO by any means but definitely a majority decision
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The M70 is a 15 volt boombox. I forget if the Aiwa is a 12v or 13.5v box but I think a fairer comparision is to compare boxes with similar voltage requirements since voltage plays a major role in a boomboxes overall power output, which can affect things like Bass which draws a lot of current.
