Aiwa CX -NA115: Bargain Dorm Room Sound
Written: Sep 15 '00 (Updated Apr 30 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great sound, good features
Cons: spotty reliability
The Bottom Line: Reasonably good sound at a reasonable price.
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| eharri3's Full Review: Aiwa CDS-MD50 Portable CD Player |
If you've read my other electronics review on my new car audio system at http://www.epinions.com/elec-review-2D8D-38A5A920-39BBF489-prod5 or seen all the goodies and toys I've found for my '95 Ranger pickup you know by now that good is never enough for me. Why have a 6 disk CD changer in your car when you can get a twelve? Why settle for the single CD boom box when you can get sophisticated minisystems with CD changers for very reasonable prices nowadays?
It was this last line of reasoning that led me to use my Sears discount to pick up my Aiwa CX-NA115 minisystem from Sears for 129.99. Of course, my mother gave me flack, as she didn't understand why the boombox she'd bought me with detachable speakers and single CD player wasn't enough. Some people just have a little trouble understanding these things.
Overall, I am very pleased with this system. It makes 25 watts per channel, or 50 total. Not wall pounding bass by any means, but plenty good enough for strong, clear sound in small to medium sized rooms, which is where it spends most of its time. Bass is good for such a compact system, but more importantly the sound is clear and very detailed, with many of the instruments and small sounds you often can't make out in a song coming through very clear. Guitars always come through undistorted, though it doesn't play back the piano portions of some of my blues selections as strongly as I would like. All the different sounds are separated and distinct. It doesn't blur together. Background hiss is undetectable to me for the most part. It doesn't fill every part of the room with sound, but you can't really expect that with bookshelf systems in this price range. But if you learn to position the speakers properly, the sound is still very good.
It comes with a remote, 3 disk CD changer system, dual tape decks with recording capabilities, and some other goodies. The remote is light and fairly easy to hold. It isn't cluttered with a whole lot of buttons and is fairly simple to use. There's three buttons numbered 1 through three at the top to change CD's. Below that there are 11 buttons for choosing preset stations. Some have dual functions, which you access by pressing the shift button. Very simple, clearly marked, and easy to learn.
Setting the stations is a fairly simple process, but setting the clock is a bit confusing so I try not to have to do it so often. Volume and tuning buttons on the remote are very easy to find.
The CD changer itself works very well. CD's change quickly and fairly smoothly, taking no more than about 10 seconds to load. It offers random and repeat play. The tape deck offers recording capabilities. The big, clearly marked controls on the face of the system itself make it easy to do everything, including shifting between tape, CD, tuning, and auxillary functions and changing the volume. Other nifty features include controls that allow you to choose which elements of the sounds are emphasized to make different types of music sound best, as well as an auxillary output that allows you to plug the stereo into a computer or television so it produces the sound from that outside source.
One of only problems I have seen is the same one I had with my older Aiwa system: It has a tendency to cut on and off unexpectedly. This has only happened once or twice, but it still makes me nervous. Also, even though it's supposed to automatically skip to the next CD once it reaches the end of the one it's currently playing, I've found that it sometimes stops playing music once the CD is over and I have to change the CD's myself. Overall though this is an ideal system for dorm rooms or other small to medium sized rooms, offering lots of good features along with clear, strong sound at a reasonable price.
Recommended:
Yes
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eharri3
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Member: edward harris
Location: Philadelphia, Pa
Reviews written: 198
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