Vintage Audio Sighting: Aiwa CA-DW235 CD Carry Component System

In other words a boombox!

My wife came across this Aiwa boombox in a thrift store the other day and I took a good hard look at it. It's officially the Aiwa CA-DW235 CD Carry Component System, but I'll just call it a highly evolved boombox. According to a sticker on the back, it was manufactured in May 1999.

The Aiwa CA-DW235 CD Carry Component System

The CA-DW235 was listed as having 18 watt power consumption which certainly means it had more than enough power for a dorm room or apartment. It could also be powered by 8 D-Cell batteries. 

The CA-DW235 Back Panel

Features like a CD player, a dual tape deck for high speed dubbing, an AM/FM radio, and a microphone input would make the Aiwa CA-DW235 CD Carry Component System fairly complete by the standards of the day. I like the push button equalization settings. I never know how to set up an equalizer with sliders. 

The Aiwa CA-DW 235 Control Panel

Why not buy it? It was selling for about $20. But, there were some issues that would be showstoppers for me. First, there was no power cord. You'd have to find a replacement. A manual I found online suggests that using the wrong replacement could be a fire hazard. I'm not too keen on fire hazards. The absence of power also prevented me from testing out the system.

Strike 1:  The Power Cord Is Missing

The CA-DW235 can also run on battery power. It takes 8 D cells. The battery compartment in this one is definitely showing corrosion from old batteries. While clean up is possible, it's another project.

Strike 2:  The Battery Compartment is corroded

Finally, the volume switch was drooping a bit towards the down position. This made me wonder if the boom box would automatically mute itself during operation.  It's definitely something to test out.

Strike 3: The Volume Button is drooping

Ultimately, I passed on this old boombox.  But, you can find operating and service manuals for the Aiwa CA-DW235 CD Carry Component System here at Manualslib.com. If I was handier and new a few things about electronics, it might have been an interesting projects.

If you like the idea of a vintage Aiwa boombox, but find the prospect of restoring aging electronic devices a bit daunting. Aiwa makes a very cool retro boombox with 40-watt speakers, bluetooth, AM/FM radio, and cassette capabilities. I was surprised to run across it here on Amazon.

Aiwa Retro Boombox (Amazon Photo)

You can check the Aiwa Retro Boombox out here on Amazon!

 

Vintage Stereo Encounter: Denon Personal Audio System D-C1 Micro Stereo

I recently encountered this cool looking little stereo in a local thrift store.  It's a Denon Personal Audio System / Micro Component System D-C1.  It's a small stereo that puts out 15 watts per channel and has a tuner, 6-disc CD player, and a cassette player.  It's amazing to think that this sleek little system hails from 1996.   It looks pretty good for a 24-year-old piece of consumer electronics.

Denon D-C1 Micro Component Stereo

I didn't look at this one for long, but I found it interesting that it had a microphone input.  I don't know if that is for karaoke night or making audio recordings with the cassette.  This system didn't have any speakers so I didn't test to see if it worked or how it sounded.  Of course, in a thrift store, there are lots of handy speaker options right down the shelf.

Stereo Speakers on Thrift Store Shelves

If you are looking for a micro stereo system, you can find many of them here on Amazon.

Thrift Store Stereo: Philips AZ4000 MP3-CD Sound Machine Boom Box

I just hooked up our latest thrift store find. It's a Philips AZ4000 Sound Machine.  It's an interesting boom box from the 2001-2002 timeframe.  My wife was drawn to it and we bought it at a local Goodwill store for only $16.91.

Philips AZ4000 Sound Machine

 It has an electronically tuned FM stereo receiver and according to Amazon.com, the product also has the following:

• 20-track CD programming, repeat and shuffle play; firmware upgradeable
• 3-band equalizer and Ultrabass 2 bass boost enhance and customize system sound quality
• 2-way speakers with 4-inch woofers, dome tweeters, and bass-reflex cabinets
• Runs on 6 D batteries (not included) or AC power (cord supplied) 

Of course, this is a vintage boombox from 15 years ago.

Philips AZ4000 Dimensions

The unit itself has low and deep dimensions.  It stands about six-inches tall and is about 12-inches deep.  It's fairly heavy and the few available Amazon reviews characterized it as a bulky for a portable boombox. This unit is cosmetically challenged with some melted spots on the left-hand side of the unit.  (I think a previous owner may have set a hot curling iron or something on top of the little boom box.)

Philips AZ4000 Sound Machine (top view)

Philips Sound Quality

The sound quality is actually, truly, outstanding.  The unit got 4.5 stars our of 5 from Amazon reviewers back in the day.  It has 4 front-facing speakers and two rear-facing bass ports.  You can adjust the bass and the trouble by hitting the bass/treble button and adjusting the volume knob.  The changes you dial in show on the digital display.  Ultra Bass is activated by pushing the button.

The CD player is a top-loaded unit and should be able to read MP3 files from home made CDs.

The Philips AZ4000 CD Player

The Philips AZ4000 Digital Display

Philips AZ4000 Drawbacks

I found the controls to be intuitive and easy to use.  Apparently, the Philips AZ4000 supports a remote control of some sort.  However, this thrift store unit didn't have a remote.  Fortunately, we don't seem to be missing any of the essential controls.  The worst feature of this unit is the lack of an auxiliary input.  While it does have an earphone jack, this vintage portable stereo precedes the Smartphone era and there is no way to hook up devices to this old school boom box.  That's too bad because the speakers are great.

Philips AZ4000 Headphone Jack

With great quality sound, this $17 thrift store special Philips AZ4000 Sound Machine might be a great affordable alternative to an expensive Bose Wave Radio.  For under $20, you can't go too wrong.

A Modern Philips Boombox

You can still get Philips Boomboxes today in 2025. This one has an FM Radio, Bluetooth, and CD Player that can also handle MP3s on CD-R and CD-RW CDs.  You can find this nice little Philips boombox (below) on Amazon.

A modern Philips Boombox

Thrift Store Stereo Review: Sony Boombox Stereo [CFD-Z130]

Since we were planning a move, we paired down the amount of stereo equipment in our apartment.  We packed away our best speakers and sold old speakers that weren't needed.  But, after all that, we renewed our lease after all and found ourselves in a pretty quiet apartment.  I decided to change that by investing all of $8.88 in this little portable stereo boombox.  It's model CFD-Z130 and it comes with a top loading single disc CD player, a manually tuned AM/FM receiver, and detachable speakers.

Sony Boombox Stereo (Model CFD-Z130)

It's a small 20 Watt system that could even run on batteries in a pinch.  But, it makes for a good little bedroom system.  The tape deck doesn't work, but that is no great loss as we no longer have any cassette tapes.  The biggest drawback is that it doesn't have an external input for a phone.  Hence, the $9 price tag.  However, the CD player runs like a champ and the speakers sound good.  Looking through the grills, the speakers appear to be in great shape.

Overall, this system is a typical Goodwill Stereo find.  Since it is a Sony, I expect it to be a basically competent little system. I've got to clean it up a bit, but I generally expect it to last for awhile and provide a basic little stereo for a bedroom.

[Note:  After a few days, I noticed a slight buzz from this unit when the unit was off.  I'm not sure what the buzz was, but I suspect it was some sort of short.  In the interest of fire safety, I disposed of this piece of gear and replaced it with an inexpensive Marantz stereo unit.


For something a little more upscale, I'd consider the Philips Bluetooth Stereo System since it is a 60 Watt system with Bluetooth.