It was the start if a familiar story. I saw her sitting there on a thrift store shelf. Her speaker cabinets were a shiny ebony that reflected the universe around her.
I imagined what the speakers themselves like and gently removed the covers. There were no flaws, no blemishes, and not even a trace of dust. She was an Aiwa XR-MS3 Micro Music System.
For only $11, she would be a handsome addition to my collection. I took her to a place of prominence where she could plug in. She fired up easily and I found her controls easy to understand.
I found a disused Dixie Chick CD laying on a shelf nearby.
I fed it into the vertical CD slot and with a little fumbling, the Aiwa played beautifully. Then I switched to radio. She gamely hunted for a station, but no antenna. I found a cassette tape and popped it into the top-mounted cassette player.
It would not play or wind the tape in either direction. Next, I peered deep into the fan port in the back and realized that I could not see the fan spinning.
Finally, I remembered Sony system that died on my table. I sighed. I could not go through that pain again. I kept my $11 and walked away. It was a sweet looking little system and might have worked well for the radio, CD, and auxiliary input. If the bug strikes again, there may be a better working mini stereo on Amazon.
