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!

 

Thrift Store Sighting: Panasonic SA-AK44 CD Stereo System with 5 CD Changer

Here it is in 2024 and I still haunt thrift stores from time to time.  I always drift to the back and the electronics section.  Everyone once in awhile, I even find something interesting.  For example, about a week ago, I saw this Panasonic SA-AK44 CD Stereo System with 5 CD Changer.  It's a pretty big system and shines like a beacon from that shelf.

Panasonic SA-AK44 CD Stereo System with 5 CD Changer

Unfortunately, the staff at Goodwill is beginning to realize what these shelf-systems might be worth to collectors.  They priced this one at $47.99.  I'm sure it won't last long on the shelves and it probably made someone's day to find this one.

A simple Google search reveals that manuals and remote controls are still available at various places on the internet for this system.  It would definitely be a good system for some lucky thrifter.  For a new system coming in at a similar price, check out this one on Amazon: Magnavox MM435M-WH Compact CD System with Bluetooth.

Magnavox MM435M-WH Compact CD System with Bluetooth (Amazon photo)

Thrift Store Speaker Encounter: Speakers of Mystery

Sometimes you find the weirdest audio gear at the thrift store.  For example, here is a row of five surround speakers.   The thing that is strange about these speakers is that they have absolutely no markings.

These speakers seem heavily built and have no markings.  No information about the manufacturer or the country of origin is provided.  There is also no information about the rated power at a given number of ohms.

The only thing we know is that these speakers are cheap. They are just $1.99 a piece. $10 would buy the whole lot.

I imagine that these speakers were part of a larger set and that all the manufacturing details were recorded on a center channel speaker or on a subwoofer.  Perhaps the world will never know . . .

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.

Speaker Encounter: Technics SB-CR33 Stereo Speakers

Sometimes Goodwill Thrift Stores can be filled with surprises.  For example, over the weekend, I encountered a pair of medium-sized Technics SB-CR33 floorstanding speakers.  These 2-way 140 watt speakers generally get good reviews and are praised for their bass and high end sound.  Unfortunately, these speakers look like crap.  The speaker covers are filthy.  You could probably recover them with new speaker mesh available here on Amazon.

Thrift Store Technics Speaker (front)

The back of these speakers also features a white mystery substance.  This could be dirt.  But, if it this is white mold, I sure wouldn't want to bring it into the house.

Thrift Store Technics Speaker (Back)

It's a shame, because these speakers actually look pretty good underneath the dust cover.  That said, I suspect that a bit of foam may be missing around the small tweeter speaker.

Technics SB-CR33 Stereo Speaker

These speakers were marked at only $4.99 each.  However, due to the suspicious stains, I'd recommend passing on them at any price.  If you can get some in better cosmetic condition, they would probably be a great buy.

Death of a Micro Stereo: 20 Minutes with a Sony CMT-BX1.

Thrift Store Stereo:  Sony CMT-BX1

Whoops, I did it again!  I bought a mini stereo from a thrift store. 
 

It was a Sony CMT-BX1.  For only $11, it seemed like a good buy.  I tested it.  The CD player worked.  The tuner hunted for radio stations, but the antenna was missing.  It had an auxiliary audio port so I could hook up my phone.  The system had a total of 40 Watts of power which would be just fine for a small space.  It sounded good.  It was cute.  How could I go wrong?

Let me count the ways!  Once I got it home, the problems began.
I should have known that an 11 year old micro stereo would have problems.

 First, the auxiliary port didn't work.  I tried with two different cables.  Disappointed, I went to bed with visions of getting a soldering iron and finding a loose wire.


The next day, I snagged the FM radio antenna from my stereo and plugged it into the little Sony.  I got radio stations and the sound was good.  All I would have to do is fix that auxiliary port and I would be in business.  Wrong!  After playing less than one song on the radio, the little stereo stopped making sound all together.


Unfortunately, major repairs are well beyond my capabilities and an $11 stereo doesn't merit further investment of time or money.  It's just a bummer.  I'm swearing off thrift store stereos again.  In its day, this was probably a great little stereo.  Someone got a decade of use out of this Sony CMT-BX1, but everything has a lifespan.

But, the speakers are still good.  I have another idea.  Maybe I could . . .

Thrift Store Find: Definitive Technologies Pro Monitor 1000 Bookshelf Speakers

It's not every night that you find high end audiophile speakers at a thrift store.  But, on one recent night, I found a pair of Definitive Technologies Pro Monitor 1000 Bookshelf Speakers for $6.96 apiece at a local thrift store.

After a quick peak under the speaker grills revealed that the foam surrounds appeared to be in perfect condition, I snapped them up.  New, the speakers would have been $219 each according to Crutchfield.  But, for $14 and tax, the thrift store gave me a chance to be a full fledged audiophile!

Of course, there are some minor caveats to my thrift store find.  First, in the listening room of a 6500 square foot mansion with a big gate and stone lions, the Definitive Technologies speaker cabinets would be a perfect piano-finish ebony.  In my local thrift store, the speaker cabinets had lots of little scratches.  Perhaps the installer messed them up?  Fortunately, the blemishes are of no consequence in my hovel.  In the manor, the speakers would ideally be matched with a subwoofer, a center channel speaker, and a couple more bookshelf speakers as part of an exquisite surround system that would allow some busy executive to find inner peace in his office or listening room.  I don't know about all that.  But, in our spare bedroom/home office, the speakers instantly displaced those B652 speakers I wrote about in my last post.

My initial impressions are the they sound great for bookshelf speakers!  I don't know that I am enough of an audiophile to use words like rich and full, etc.  However, these speakers reproduce sound well and sound wonderful to my ear.  Like most bookshelf speakers, these do give up some on the bass end of the spectrum.  The frequency response is rated as 47 hz to 30 Mhz.  These do provide better performance on the higher end than most similar speakers.  Overall, these speakers are excellent.  For less than $15, these speakers were an incredible find.  You can also find them at current new prices on Amazon here.

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 Find: iLive Mini Bookshelf Stereo

This little Bookshelf Stereo was made by iLive. They make affordable consumer electronics. Typically, you'll find mini stereos and boomboxes that cost less than $100. In the first store, this little stereo was selling for $30.

iLive Mini Bookshelf Stereo

It looks like the stereo real deal with a subwoofer and a pair of 4-ohm speakers. The drawback is that this unit was made for an old school iPod. While that socket might have been convenient at one time, it makes the unit look a bit dated now. More modern devices will have to use a Y-connector cable.

iLive Mini Bookshelf Stereo (front)

The speakers on this unit were pristine.  I'm sure that it has lots of life left in it as a bedrooom stereo in the right home.  It's a compact and sleek looking unit.

iLive Mini Bookshelf Stereo Speaker (grill removed)

I suspect that strength of this little stereo unit lies around the back.  It does have an auxiliary input (Aux Input) and it also has be inputs and outputs needed to be hooked into a video system.  While this truly isn't an audiophile system by any stretch of the imagination, it just might suffice in the average persons bedroom or office.

iLive Mini Bookshelf Stereo (Back)

There are plenty of small, inexpensive, bedroom systems on the market from companies like iLive or GPX.

Of course, many of these little low cost units have their issues. For example while this iLive unit looked good to me, some mini stereos have fake speaker units built in. You'll find that a tweeter or a mid-range driver is actually a non-functional piece of plastic included for "cosmetic" reasons. If you experience that kind of disappointment, a name-brand unit with a great reputation starts to make real sense.  Names like Onkyo, Sony, and Yamaha may be more expensive, but they are also more trusted by consumers.

Vintage Sears Solid-State Stereo for Less than $10

I recently ran across a very cool little stereo at my local Goodwill.  It was a vintage solid state stereo from Sears.  It had an all in one AM/FM receiver and turntable and two vintage speakers.  In truth, it isn't much of a stereo.  It's just a little bedroom stereo that kids from the early to mid-1970s probably had for entertainment.  However, in testament to this cheap little stereo, I hooked it up and the radio receiver worked just fine.

Vintage Sears Stereo

Of course, this stereo was pretty old school in its execution.  You have to manually dial in the station and a red light will glow if you are locked in.  But, the sound was okay from both speakers and the balance knob seemed to work just fine.  You had to play with the speaker wires to make sure that you had a good connection when plugging them in.  However, once it was plugged in the speakers put out decent enough sound.  Best of all, this little stereo was priced at just under $7.

Of course, I let this treasure remain on the shelf.  I don't have the room and it's not that great of a stereo.  However, it might be a find for a collector or for someone with a kid or a garage that needs music.  If you like the look of this system, but want something that is more modern in 2024, you might check out this retro system from Victrola.

Victrola 50s Retro Bluetooth Phonograph, CD, AM/FM Media Center

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.

An Old School Stereo for Less than $30

Are you looking to get a stereo cheap?  A few weeks ago, I came across a couple of interesting stereo components that could have led me to the construction of a pretty nice sub-$30 old school stereo.

First, in a Goodwill in the far flung suburbs of Atlanta, I found two stereo receivers for $24.99 each.  The first component  was a Sherwood RX-4100 receiver.  It's a 105 watt 2-channel stereo unit with 0.05 THD distortion.  The Sherwood RX-4100 Stereo Receiver received mixed reviews on Amazon.com due primarily to the lack of tone controls.  If you need a manual for this stereo receiver it can be found on manualslib.com. 

Sherwood RX-4100 Stereo Receiver

The second component was an Insignia 200 watt stereo reciever.  Insignia is well known as the house brand of Best Buy.

Finally, a solitary Lxi brand single-disc CD player was selling just down the aisle for just under $4.  Of course, the $20,000 question remains:  will a $4 CD player work?  It did power on and off.  The door also opened and closed.  A simple CD player from Goodwill just might work.  It's the multi-disc CD players that get clunky.

 

That's a lot of stereo for $29.  Of course, speakers are another matter.  However, I've often seen mondo speakers for as low as $20 a pair.  Small bookshelf speakers could go for as little as $10.  As long as you can see that there are no tears in a speaker cone and that the foam surrounds around a speaker are intact, you almost can't go wrong with speakers from a thrift store.  However, there are also some great speaker deals on the Internet.

We live in an era when any resourceful kid can put together a great stereo.  We are lucky to be living in the twilight of a golden age of stereo technology.