This boombox has a wonderful sound. The speakers are large and the amplification is powerful. The CD player works well as I would have expected. The Bluetooth function allows you to play music from your phone. I have not used the cassette function as of yet. The radio works great. Two vu meters monitor playback which is a nice touch. The batteries have been drained already and it takes 8 D cells. It also is quite heavy and when you add all those batteries it’s even heavier. Would be nice if it had a rechargeable li-ion battery. I like it. I have a JVC boom box that is 25 years old and this is a bigger sounding nice replacement. Read more

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I wanted a good Bluetooth speaker set up for the tunes on my phone. Previously I had bought a no name speaker that failed after a couple of years. I might be able to fix it, maybe not. I have always wanted a large ghetto blaster like I had back in the day and had looked on ebay, but of course those are mostly parts or museum pieces costing ten times what they cost new. Besides, the modern stereo usually has Bluetooth and other modern music storage options. Aiwa has always had good products in the past, so I figured I would take a chance, even though everything is now made in china. As stated in other reviews, the thing is heavy. I mean it is SOLID. Good heavy plastic on the case. The knobs look a little cheesy but no problems found. FM in my area is pathetic with only a few strong stations and they were not producing high quality signals anyway. I don't listen to subscription music or chart music anyway. The unit is impressive with the amount of crystal clear sound that it reproduces. Remember, the quality of recordings/files/downloads is the starting point of quality reproduction. I listen to HQ or HD videos streamed from my phone through the Bluetooth feature. The Bluetooth works flawlessly. The sound doesn't distort with increased volume. I have not tried the tape deck or CD player as I listen to digital recordings. I like the option of having USB, SD, AUX, microphone jacks and other features but I may not ever use them as my phone does all the storage. The old school look is even better in real life. I will get some rechargeable batteries for it just because they are so handy and reliable now. The price is really not very high for a sound system of this quality and functionality. I have always been pleased with Aiwa products and it looks like this one will be a good product too. Read more

So 'I've been looking for a decent "real" boombox for a while now. What I mean is, not a Bluetooth speaker. My Aiwa CSD-EL33 quit working some time ago. I've had it since 1999. I took it apart and tried to repair it but it is possessed. I don't know if the caps went bad or if a chip got corrupted. It doesn't respond to the buttons most times, or it does something entirely different. Plus the cassette belts dissolved. I may give up on it. In the meantime while finding out that there are no real brand name boomboxes anymore, I found this. I know this Awia is not the same as old school Aiwa, just the name that some Chinese corporation bought who also makes toasters, but I thought just maybe it would be decent enough. We'll, let me tell you, it is! The only thing that disappoints me is the tape deck. Like all, and I do mean ALL, cassette tape decks in 2025. It's a piece of trash, and the makers should be ashamed of themselves. I could write another thousand words about the awesome technology and quality of tape decks we had back in the 80's and 90's, but it won't change the fact that NONE of them are being made anymore. Just this ONE mechanism in EVERY cassette player made now with its cheap play head and it's permanent erase magnet for recording. It is truly an abomination compared to what we once had, to what is in my 1999 Aiwa CSD-EL33! The tape playback is tolerable and is in stereo, but recording to tape is a nogo. The Aiwa backtrack weighs in at 17.8 lbs with 8 alkaline D cell batteries installed. Its kinda heavy, and its kinda big. It doesn't fit in the front seat of my 1987 Suzuki Samurai big. Which is GOOD! And it sounds good too! Excellent actually. (Except for that tape recording thing) And it's LOUD! On volume 25 with treble set at 4, Bass at 4, and bass boost off from 10 feet away listening to Geddy Lee lament about FM radio on our local FM radio station (Rush-The Spirit of Radio) my free app sound meter on my phone measured 80db. 84db from 5 feet, and 90db right in front of the speaker. Same results from Bono singing In The Name of Love with more noticeable bass of course. That's loud enough for me. The volume knob goes all the way to 32 and still sounds good with no noticeable distortion. The sound is very good, and the bass has an impressive kick for a plastic boombox, a much better frequency response than any medium sized 80's or 90's equivalent that I can remember. The tuner is clear and consice. It tunes in stations very well and 'STEREO' appears on the display when tuned to a stereo station. It also plays in stereo. There is a distinct Left and Right separation and the VU meters coorespond to this as noted by playing Spaced Age Love Song by Flock of Seagulls. CDs sound great also, as does Bluetooth pairing, but the loudest volume I've experience comes from a well tuned in radio station. I have not messed with the SD card or memory stick functions yet. When I do I'll update this review. The microphone inputs work great. The echo effect will make anyone sound like a monster truck event announcer. SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY! A bit of advice if you're going to sing along. Use Bluetooth pairing and the volume from your paired device/phone to adjust music volume while the mic volumes and main volume (I turn the main volume all the way up) can be used for your voice. Otherwise the music will drown out, you. If you are looking for a 'real' boombox. One with a cassette player, CD player, and radio like in the olden days that actually works, and sounds good. Go ahead and buy it. It works pretty good and has the added benefit of Bluetooth plus the SD stuff. Yes its 250 bucks, and while I think its expensive for what it is, so are my groceries! Look at it this way. For the price of half a basket of food you get a rad boombox that will impress the chics, and it won't end up in the toilet in a week. I'll update this review for longevity from time to time. Read more

Great boombox. I bought the black one and it looks great, and has a quality feel to it when adjusting knobs and putting in cassettes and CDs. It plays well with the radio/cd/casset player. It's not screaming loud at max volume but loud enough for me. I haven't tried any of the other features. I'm definitely happy with my purchase. Read more

The best part of the the radio is looks. It doesn’t sound bad, I’ve heard much better music from other radios, it has some bass. Nothing extreme. Really as I look at it I should send it back. For the money there’s nothing that is like wow to me it all works cd is ok. Tapes is ok. What it definitely needs is a full size antenna the provided one is a joke. The tuner should be backlit. I’m not trying to bash the radio it’s just ok. Not as good sounding as I hoped for. Are the tiny vu meter’s supposed to help sell this. ? Cuz they are tiny. There’s room for improvement at the cost of$250.00. You need to be in a bright room to identify any buttons. I’m just not impressed by anything being a name like aiwa I’m deeply disappointed with this radio. I don’t see why so many are giving this thing such a great review. It sounds ok not great. Lacking so many features. Read more

WOW! WOW! WOW! A (BRAND NEW) LEGITIMATE OLD-SCHOOL BOOMBOX!! Technically this is not an original vintage unit - but it’s as close as you’ll probably ever get to owning a brand-spanking-new early 1980’s boombox. The biggest reason why I love it: It’s LEGITIMATE. I never bought any of the new “retro” boomboxes bc they were cheaply made, generic looking caricatures of real vintage radios. Yuck. The Aiwa on the other hand looks and feels like a brand new old school boombox from the early 1980’s. Even the small details are mostly correct. It’s a nearly identical aesthetic clone to the Sharp GF575 from 1982! It has a high quality feel about it: - Knobs feel solid and weighted. - Cabinet plastic feels thick. - It’s really heavy - Old school handle is solid. Sound quality is on par with most of my better vintage units. I’d call it really solid mid-fidelity. CD’s sound fantastic. Cassettes sound better than I expected and FM reception is also great…pulls in a ton of stations. The yellow color is HOT!! I was worried it was going to look like cheap shiny toy plastic. The yellow is painted on, not molded in. It has a matte finish which adds to the quality aesthetic. Just a few very insignificant nit pics - I think the meters look a little cheap up close, the pink and blue button accent panels are a bit garish, the am/fm dial face plate looks a touch cheap. Lastly, the Bluetooth badge on the CD face plate belies its vintage aesthetic. Nothing to dissuade my joy for this awesome radio. Overall quality exceeds my expectations. I’ve showed the radio to friends and their reactions have been awesome. The radio is huge and the electric yellow color just “snaps”. I get an eye-popping WOW! when they see it for the first time. As a serious vintage boombox collector, I’m overjoyed that we finally have a “real”, brand new, old-school radio to purchase and enjoy!! If you’re on the fence whether to buy it or not - BUY IT. IT’S LEGIT! Read more

Unlike most of the reviews for this i didnt receive this for free.. so my review is unbiased.. i also made a video on YouTube under my Amazon name.. Aiwa back in the early days of the 80's and 90's made some really high quality electronics.. eventually it was bought out by Sony in the early 2000's.. in 2008 Sony sold off the name.. years later Aiwa made a sweet comeback with the Exos 9 Bluetooth boombox.. which was a highly rated powerful portable speaker system.. now they released this modern take on a old school boombox.. and i say they did a great job! although this version of the Aiwa has been around under different names in other countries it finally released here.. even though the price is a bit steep.. it IS a quality modern take on the retro boomboxes of the 80's with some modern touches to bring it to todays standards.. it's not perfect.. it should use a rechargeable battery instead of outdated "D" cell batteries.. but it does have solid controls and is well built.. and it does sound great.. with punchy Bass and loudness.. so if you want a modern boombox with old school feel and ability to play cassettes and CD's you cant do much better than this beast.. a solid 8 out of 10.. Read more

I was just browsing amazon one day and came across this boombox. I definitely liked the looks of it and watches a few videos and read some reviews. Then it came to which one do I want so I tossed it around for awhile and thought the silver to me looks the part sp I ordered it first. Not saying the other two are not nice looking boomboxes. First off its heavy. With 8d batteries in it its almost 18lbs because I put it on the scale. The plastic is thick the knows are smooth and tight when using. Bluetooth or at least from my phone isn't the loudest but is clear. The tape deck to me sounded just fine and it was able to get pretty loud. The cd player works just fine and it will track forward and stop spinning the disc for a few then fire back up again that's just how it works. The tuner picks up plenty of channels with no issues. I ordered the black one second and let me say the black and gold looks killer. Those are the only options I have tried on it so far. I ordered 8 rechargeable batteries for it and they do just fine I haven't played it long enough to see how long they last. If I could change a couple things it would be i really wish the tuner was back lit because that would look so good with the vu meters back lighting. One more thing. If you want the most out of your sound place it near the back of a wall because the back is ported a it helps a ton on volume and overall bass. I have a few other modern day boomboxes that are ok and do what they suppose to do but they are not anything like this one. I know everything is made in China and this boombox is branded under many different names but it seem to be a good solid unit. I like to call it my fine China, lol. Read more

This reminds me allot of the Sharp Sharp GF-575Z from back in the days. I am not going to sit there and bash this boom box for not being exactly like an 80's boom box , because I feel that for a company to go through the trouble and manufacture a product like this with modern tech is awesome. There is no one making the old-school cassette mechanisms like those of yesterday year. But remembering how I used to record cassettes from the FM radio using cassettes that fit my budget, yeah those Maxwell UR series tapes or even cheaper no name tapes back then. Man this sounds great when playing tapes that I recorded using higher quality equipment then playing it back on this AIWA. Thankfully I have not had any of the issues others have mentioned in their reviews with my copy and I have been putting this boombox though its paces. CD plays with no issues and sounds pretty decent. The cassette player sound pretty decent depending on the quality of the recording and tape. There are sometimes I noticed the wow and flutter minute speed differences (If one pays really close attention.) But hey. Did we really pay attention to that as kids walking our boxes on the streets? Not this guy........ FM radio receives station very well in my area AM stations came in as well but in my area there is allot of interference on that band , this is not the fault of the radio but my are. USB and SD card recored lengthy audio mixes from my computer and had no issues. It does how ever only seem to record MP3s at 128Kbps so there is a noticeable difference from the original when paying close attention but again at a party or walking the streets who will really notice. Build Quality: To me I think they nailed it, styling and feel just like those budget friendly boom boxes of yesterday year. It is not an M90! lol but looks just like a modern take of a SHARP GF-575-Z and that was nice radio for its time. Volume: I compare it to some boomboxes of the 80's it gets loud but it will never compare to a modern BIG USB speaker with plenty of power. It depends on where you are actually , indoors it has nice volume, outdoors its like a typical boombox of the 80's. (AGAIN not comparing to those boat anchor class boom boxes) :-) Taking 8-D Cell 12V boxes of the past. Over all I love it. I would definitely recommend just keep in mind , it will never be the early 80's again.. :-) Read more

This boombox is the best example of a true boombox from the good old days that is available. The cassette player is limited to the tanashin style decks that are available but, it gets the job done in the cassette department. Everything works the way you would expect. The speakers are mounted internally into their own enclosures which are ported to the rear. The sound is spot on with an old school blaster. The tweeters are silk domed and are very crisp. The weight is right where an old school radio would be and the handle is sturdy. The 8-D battery compartment is true to that old school radio. The Bluetooth range is acceptable. The radio has good reception on FM and fair AM. Stereo separation is very good on this radio. I'm hearing stuff in my old cassettes that I didn't know were there. It's advertised as 40 watts however, if you are interested in clean power, it's more at 10.6 watts X 2 RMS for a total of 21.2 watts clean stereo output. It's more than enough to make your ears ring if turned up loud for long periods of time. VU meters are back-lit. They bounce nicely to the output volume of the radio without the needed to crank it way up to enjoy them. They are mainly for esthetics as they do not contribute to tuner strength, battery level or recording levels. When recording, this radio records at 128kbps MP3 from any source to USB, microSD or cassette. This includes AM/FM, Aux, Bluetooth, CD and Mic inputs. The CD player has a 1 minute buffer. After reading ahead, the CD will stop and play off the buffer before spinning back up again. This saves on battery, helps prevent skipping and scratching the disc when carrying it. In addition to MP3, this unit will also play WAV and WMA files. It will not play Flac or other file formats. The cassette player is what you would expect from the available mechanisms. W/F is acceptable but do not expect to record onto cassettes. Like most of these aftermarket tanashin style players, they use a permanent erase magnet which add loads of hiss to your recordings. Recording from cassette, radio, aux, CD and Bluetooth to USB and microSD has a more satisfactory result. This boombox will work just fine on rechargeable NiMh D batteries except when recording. I recommend using a higher voltage Alkaline battery or have it plugged in when recording to USB or microSD. The radio does not rattle or buzz when the bass hits and feels very solid. Overall, I am happy with my purchase. Read more