I've read all of the previous reviews on the site before mine. It seems 90% of the people who have this unit and have posted a review has had a problem with the 3-CD Deck. It going out within less than a year and such. I must say I've had this unit for OVER 5 YEARS and haven't encountered a SINGLE problem, only those created on my own (such as being 13 yrs old(17 now)and pluging the "antenna wire" into the electric socket because my friend at the time told me it would 'improve' the signal. It FRIED the tuner) Yet my CD-Deck/Changer has worked perfectly the entire time! The whole system had GREAT clarity and handle music terrificly. I have had the unit in my office the entire time i've owned it and due to frequent rearranging of the furniture I severed one of the cords to the rear speakers so I just got rid of both of them. As of this day I am using just the two MAIN speakers and the head unit, I have the head unit connected to my Computer's Sound Card via External Audio Cable. I can still play CD's perfectly but I mainly use it for playing MP3's off my computer, one thing I can definetly say about this unit is..."Those 4" or 5" little Sub's in the main speakers...CAN HIT...HIT HARD!!" I can HEAR the Bass Beats outside of my House, and My office is on the Second Floor! The bass is causing my light on my desk to dim! You all my have had problems, which seems wierd...because over FIVE YEARS LATER, Mine's going strong...ROCK ON AIWA!

Good Power for its price.

CD player breaks within a year. The tape player took a little longer to break (about 18 months).

This system seemed like a good deal for the price. Good power and surround sound options. It also sounded pretty good when I first brought it home. I had some vibration problems, but placing a thick cloth underneath the system solved the problem and gave a good boost to the sound quality. The problem is that it breaks down too damn much. This is a real piece of crap. My Phillips minisystem (I gave it to my brother and have forgotten the label name of the system, but it's made by Phillips) is still going strong for over ten years. Nothing can be a considered a good deal if it always breaks down. I thought you couldn't expect too much from a mini-system, but my brother's experience counters this. Aiwa just produces crap home audio gear.
I've now moved on to the world of component audio, and it's like a breath of fresh air.

Don't buy this product. I don't know what I'm going to do with mine. I'll probably just throw it away. Unless you want it.

Similar Products Used:

An older Phillips made mini-system that I purchased in 1989 and the CD player still works fine today.

Pretty Phat base for it's size.
Good stereo effect.

Same stuff: CD-player is worthless.
No adjustable equaliser.

I bought my AIWA 6 years ago.
first I was very enthousiastic about it, but soon my CD's started skipping and finaly (after -guess what- 6 months) it totaly shut down. I brought it back to the store and they repaired it, but after a few weaks I had the same problem.
I think the problem is caused by recordable CD's.
Now, 6 years later the only thing that works is the tuner and amplifier, the cassette deck is also broke.

THIS SYSTEM SUCKS SUCKS SUCK, AIWA IS HORRIBLE, DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY< IT IS SERIOUSLY A NASTY LITTLE STEREO!

Excellent sound. Great to plug into a PC, or to use STRICTLY for sound, and not PLAYING CDs.

AS mentioned, CD player suckes. Repaired by Aiwa SEVEN times. Stil non-operational.

If you can pick it up on Ebay for $50-100, do it as something to hook up to a PC, or a garage system...Again GREAT sound, poor 3 disc changer.

What a piece of SCHITT! Worked great for about 6 months. Then the same thing happened, like everyone else. CD's weren't recognized, especially when in the 2nd tray?? I had it serviced 2 times as well, still same problem. Then about 5 months ago, the tape deck door wouldn't open. I don't think I've used the tape deck more then 30 times in it's 2.5 year life..and now it doesn't work?! Then finally, when you open the tray (cuz the cd won't play) the changer spins in the OPPOSITE direction then it's supposed to!? I think it's possessed! The changer started spinning slower, like it was off track, sometimes it would be fine...it was just random and behaving. Once I had to take the whole cover off the damn thing to get my CD's out cuz the tray refused to open!! Oh, I bought a 100W subwoofer AIWA TS-60 or something. Got it refurbished, but it worked fine...for a year! Then, the back connection went bad. Well, Ya get what ya payed for. $600 for a subwoofer, tape deck, Cd Changer, reciever, Home theatre system...crap.
I just bought a Kenwood Reciever VR 3080, and Klipsch Quintet Speakers..way more worth it!!! This may be fine for College Students...but Aiwa will never get my business again.
Year 1: 4.5 Stars
Year 2: 3 Stars
Present: 2 Stars

This really should work longer than 1 year before needing service. Especially when you fork over $$ for a product...you expect it to work!

I must say I agree with the majority on this product. IT SUCKS!! Like so many of yours, mine worked great for about 6 months. I took it in once under the warranty to get fixed and got it back-third time I used it, it started all over again! Didn't recognize the cd's, skipped etc. I took it back in, (and by this time the warranty had run out because I just don't spend that much time at home!) and it cost me $170 to get it fixed! Guess what, it started doing the same thing again. I took it back in again and they couldn't find anything wrong with it. They said it played just fine when they used it. Well, I brought it home and it still doesn't work! I paid like $400 for this system, because although I wasn't at home that much I wanted to get something with a little more wattage and something that was going to last.
WHAT A JOKE!!! I cound've gotten a Soundesign and been better off! And spent way less money. A friend had raved about his car system when I told him I was thinking about buying a new system. After my purchase, I told him they must have a completely different factory for the car systems and the home systems because mine was nothing but an expensive piece of she-ite!!!!!