I wrote a basic review of this new Aiwa boombox. Herein, I will detail results of my evaluation.
Speakers:
The woofers are 'true' woofers in both appearance and function. Large excursion (possibly treated) paper cones and foam-rolled cone suspensions. Decent magnet (maybe 8-10 oz). Measured free air-resonance (removed from enclosure), 62 Hz. Very good! Woofer output seems to roll-off. No added distortion to the treble output.
The tweeters are true 0.75" soft textile domes mounted to a slight wave-guide type flange.. Small ceramic magnets work well. Flat, even sound.
2-way bass reflex, with a calculated enclosure resonance of about 55 Hz. Very nice. Port is relatively large in proportion to the woofer, limiting air noises. A 2" flared exit further reduces chuffing. A simple 4.7 uf cap nominally crosses over around 8 Khz. Works quite well, imo.
Each speaker mounted in a fully enclosed sub-enclosure, very well reinforced.
Amplifier:
The amp chip is a CD7379CZ, which seems to be a knock-off of the TDA7379.
Aiwa rates this boombox at 20 w/ch Peak.
Other versions of this same model (all made by Leotech), state output at a more realistic 10 w/ch RMS.
The chip's data sheet indicates output at around 13 w/ch with a 12 volt power supply. I could not attain that high an output.
I measured:
10.6 w, one channel driven, 1 Khz @ 10.3% THD.
8.5 w, one channel driven, 1 Khz @ 0.996% THD.
8 w, one channel driven, 65 Hz to 20 Khz @ less than 0.35% THD. Very nice.
Overall frequency response: 45 Hz to 20 Khz within -3 dB.
Power Bandwidth: 65 Hz to 20 Khz within +/- 1 dB. Very good.
S/N Ratio > 95 dB. Excellent.
Tone Controls: Bass: 6 steps @ +2 dB per step. Turnover is 1 Khz. Center frequency is 100 Hz.
Treble: 6 steps @ +2 dB per step. Turnover is 1 Khz. Center frequency is 10 Khz. (typical settings. I prefer 50 Hz and 20 Khz, respectively).
X-Bass: about +7 dB at 100 Hz. (not a Loudness control. No treble affect).
The amp chip is mounted to a large aluminum heat sink. Very good.
The internal wiring from amp to speakers use actual quick-connect ends rather than soldering. I like that. The end clips even have rubber slip-on covers, preventing shorting issues.) Very nice.
CD Player:
Frequency Response: 20 Hz to 20 Khz with a -9 dB roll-off in the low end.
(However, this could be due to measuring the CD output via the headphones-jack, which may be subject to the same bass roll-off as the amplifier)
The CD response from around 100 Hz to 20 Khz is extremely flat. Imo, this indicates the CD player is better than the measurements suggest. Response above 100 Hz actually rivals my LG Bluray home component CD/DVD Player.
S/N Ratio is around 88 dB. Very good.
THD @ 1 Khz is under 0.1%. Also, very good. Matches my LG Bluray component CD/DVD player.
Very quiet mechanism. Very good.
Programmable playback. Nice.
Tape Deck:
Tape deck is so-so. I cleaned the tape-head prior to testing. Operating the tape deck flooded my mind with good memories of tape recording long ago. However, it also made me realize some possible issues with this deck. I will point out all good and bad, as follows:
Decent looking Record/Playback Head and separate Erase Head. Good. (Some cheap decks use an inferior permanent magnet in place of the Erase Head.)
I recorded a 1 Khz sine wave. I noticed warbling (wow/flutter) upon playback. Not so good.
Frequency Response: Around 80 Hz to 12.5 Khz within +/- 10 dB or so. Not bad.
I used a new Maxell UR tape. This tape states "for general purpose recording". So, it could affect the outcome. Back in the day, I bought TDK or Maxell, as they were the best for high fidelity purposes. Back then, Aiwa may have recommended Sony brand, as Sony was their parent company. It was believed that using the brand employed by the manufacturer to set the deck's bias and response yielded the best results.
S/N Ratio: around 46 dB. Actually, pretty typical for a Normal Bias without noise reduction. Fair.
However, noise was very evident below 1 Khz, making some measurements very difficult. Overall recording quality is not too good, compared to the oldies but goodies boomboxes.
THD measured over 3%. If I recall correctly, even the good decks back in the day had higher levels of THD. But I do not remember for certain.
This deck lacks some things which I must be honest and disclose:
No Full Auto-Stop function. Not good. When winding a tape, you must stop the tape at the end. Otherwise, risking stretching the tape. You don't want to do that. You cannot see the 'stretch', but you will hear a 'thumping' sound near the stretched portion. Your recordings will be ruined. Stretching a tape is akin to scratching a vinyl record.
No tape counter. Would be nice to have.
Tape deck door is not removable. Many of the great boomboxes, as well as many component tape decks of the 80's, featured removable deck doors. This made cleaning and demagnetizing the Heads and Capstans much easier. Too bad.
No access hole to the Tape Head Azimuth Screw. This makes it impossible to easily adjust the Head Alignment. Disappointing.
Tape Deck keys feel solid. That's good.
Recordings made with this deck will not rival the old school boomboxes. Maybe the Lasonics. The Lasonics, especially those introduced in the latter 80's, were not hifi either.
But, playing back older tapes made on good machines shouldn't be quite as bad. Just expect some noise in the background.
Many people mention that no noise reduction is available. This is partly due to Dolby Laboratories no longer allowing their patented products to be used. I imagine some day, those patents will expire and possibly allow manufacturers to include noise reduction. Other noise reduction circuits were/are available. JVC introduced their own noise reduction, back in the 80's, hoping to rival Dolby Labs. However, that never transpired. Some cheaper decks used generic noise reductions. But such generics often amounted to simple filters which only muffled the sound.
Final thoughts:
I set up my Aiwa boombox on my entertainment center and sat in my usual listening position in our living room. This Aiwa boombox sounds very good. Bass is definitely apparent in all but the lowest octave range. The sound is full and clean. I keep the bass at '0'. Treble is set at +1. X-Bass is OFF. The result is a very well-balanced sonic reproduction. Very nice. Non-fatiguing. No sibilance. I measured an overall frequency response of around 45 Hz to 20 Khz within +/- 10 dB, which is the generally accepted standard for a flat in-room speaker performance.
Kudos to Aiwa and Leotech!!!
Highly Recommended.
Speakers:
The woofers are 'true' woofers in both appearance and function. Large excursion (possibly treated) paper cones and foam-rolled cone suspensions. Decent magnet (maybe 8-10 oz). Measured free air-resonance (removed from enclosure), 62 Hz. Very good! Woofer output seems to roll-off. No added distortion to the treble output.
The tweeters are true 0.75" soft textile domes mounted to a slight wave-guide type flange.. Small ceramic magnets work well. Flat, even sound.
2-way bass reflex, with a calculated enclosure resonance of about 55 Hz. Very nice. Port is relatively large in proportion to the woofer, limiting air noises. A 2" flared exit further reduces chuffing. A simple 4.7 uf cap nominally crosses over around 8 Khz. Works quite well, imo.
Each speaker mounted in a fully enclosed sub-enclosure, very well reinforced.
Amplifier:
The amp chip is a CD7379CZ, which seems to be a knock-off of the TDA7379.
Aiwa rates this boombox at 20 w/ch Peak.
Other versions of this same model (all made by Leotech), state output at a more realistic 10 w/ch RMS.
The chip's data sheet indicates output at around 13 w/ch with a 12 volt power supply. I could not attain that high an output.
I measured:
10.6 w, one channel driven, 1 Khz @ 10.3% THD.
8.5 w, one channel driven, 1 Khz @ 0.996% THD.
8 w, one channel driven, 65 Hz to 20 Khz @ less than 0.35% THD. Very nice.
Overall frequency response: 45 Hz to 20 Khz within -3 dB.
Power Bandwidth: 65 Hz to 20 Khz within +/- 1 dB. Very good.
S/N Ratio > 95 dB. Excellent.
Tone Controls: Bass: 6 steps @ +2 dB per step. Turnover is 1 Khz. Center frequency is 100 Hz.
Treble: 6 steps @ +2 dB per step. Turnover is 1 Khz. Center frequency is 10 Khz. (typical settings. I prefer 50 Hz and 20 Khz, respectively).
X-Bass: about +7 dB at 100 Hz. (not a Loudness control. No treble affect).
The amp chip is mounted to a large aluminum heat sink. Very good.
The internal wiring from amp to speakers use actual quick-connect ends rather than soldering. I like that. The end clips even have rubber slip-on covers, preventing shorting issues.) Very nice.
CD Player:
Frequency Response: 20 Hz to 20 Khz with a -9 dB roll-off in the low end.
(However, this could be due to measuring the CD output via the headphones-jack, which may be subject to the same bass roll-off as the amplifier)
The CD response from around 100 Hz to 20 Khz is extremely flat. Imo, this indicates the CD player is better than the measurements suggest. Response above 100 Hz actually rivals my LG Bluray home component CD/DVD Player.
S/N Ratio is around 88 dB. Very good.
THD @ 1 Khz is under 0.1%. Also, very good. Matches my LG Bluray component CD/DVD player.
Very quiet mechanism. Very good.
Programmable playback. Nice.
Tape Deck:
Tape deck is so-so. I cleaned the tape-head prior to testing. Operating the tape deck flooded my mind with good memories of tape recording long ago. However, it also made me realize some possible issues with this deck. I will point out all good and bad, as follows:
Decent looking Record/Playback Head and separate Erase Head. Good. (Some cheap decks use an inferior permanent magnet in place of the Erase Head.)
I recorded a 1 Khz sine wave. I noticed warbling (wow/flutter) upon playback. Not so good.
Frequency Response: Around 80 Hz to 12.5 Khz within +/- 10 dB or so. Not bad.
I used a new Maxell UR tape. This tape states "for general purpose recording". So, it could affect the outcome. Back in the day, I bought TDK or Maxell, as they were the best for high fidelity purposes. Back then, Aiwa may have recommended Sony brand, as Sony was their parent company. It was believed that using the brand employed by the manufacturer to set the deck's bias and response yielded the best results.
S/N Ratio: around 46 dB. Actually, pretty typical for a Normal Bias without noise reduction. Fair.
However, noise was very evident below 1 Khz, making some measurements very difficult. Overall recording quality is not too good, compared to the oldies but goodies boomboxes.
THD measured over 3%. If I recall correctly, even the good decks back in the day had higher levels of THD. But I do not remember for certain.
This deck lacks some things which I must be honest and disclose:
No Full Auto-Stop function. Not good. When winding a tape, you must stop the tape at the end. Otherwise, risking stretching the tape. You don't want to do that. You cannot see the 'stretch', but you will hear a 'thumping' sound near the stretched portion. Your recordings will be ruined. Stretching a tape is akin to scratching a vinyl record.
No tape counter. Would be nice to have.
Tape deck door is not removable. Many of the great boomboxes, as well as many component tape decks of the 80's, featured removable deck doors. This made cleaning and demagnetizing the Heads and Capstans much easier. Too bad.
No access hole to the Tape Head Azimuth Screw. This makes it impossible to easily adjust the Head Alignment. Disappointing.
Tape Deck keys feel solid. That's good.
Recordings made with this deck will not rival the old school boomboxes. Maybe the Lasonics. The Lasonics, especially those introduced in the latter 80's, were not hifi either.
But, playing back older tapes made on good machines shouldn't be quite as bad. Just expect some noise in the background.
Many people mention that no noise reduction is available. This is partly due to Dolby Laboratories no longer allowing their patented products to be used. I imagine some day, those patents will expire and possibly allow manufacturers to include noise reduction. Other noise reduction circuits were/are available. JVC introduced their own noise reduction, back in the 80's, hoping to rival Dolby Labs. However, that never transpired. Some cheaper decks used generic noise reductions. But such generics often amounted to simple filters which only muffled the sound.
Final thoughts:
I set up my Aiwa boombox on my entertainment center and sat in my usual listening position in our living room. This Aiwa boombox sounds very good. Bass is definitely apparent in all but the lowest octave range. The sound is full and clean. I keep the bass at '0'. Treble is set at +1. X-Bass is OFF. The result is a very well-balanced sonic reproduction. Very nice. Non-fatiguing. No sibilance. I measured an overall frequency response of around 45 Hz to 20 Khz within +/- 10 dB, which is the generally accepted standard for a flat in-room speaker performance.
Kudos to Aiwa and Leotech!!!
Highly Recommended.
