Aiwa CSD-XD51 Radio/Cassette/CD Boombox

Introduction
Aiwa, which is actually Sony, sells this unit (the CSD-XD51) also as the CSD-XD55 and the CSD-XM77. The internals are pretty much the same, but the packaging differs; for instance, the CSD-XM77 is silver, black and orange.

I work in a loud environment. Earplugs are usually required. I'm not allowed to wear noise cancelling headphones, so having a sufficiently powerful radio is a must. However, it also needs to be portable. The "5 watt wonders," which consists of the vast majority of boom boxes today, simply don't have the power to be heard. When I saw this Aiwa that proclaimed it had a "4 amplifier drive," I thought to myself, "it must be 4 times louder than a regular boom box!" Up until then, I had been using a Philips AZ2000/07 boom box, a fairly powerful and good-sounding unit we bought back in '99. My better half didn't like me taking "Her" radio to work (she laid claim to it), so this hastened my decision to buy the Aiwa.

Power and truth
First, for the truth about the power ratings. One could reasonably assume that this unit had 20 watts of power; indeed, a quick check in the manual shows that the entire unit consumes 28 watts of power. However, a closer inspection reveals that it's "10W+10W." There are six speakers; four regular ones, and two tweeters. This means that each main speaker can't be getting more than 4.5 watts of power. Though "our" Philips/Magnavox AZ2000 consumed less power (22 watts) and also had a smaller amplifier, it only had to drive two speakers, and those two speakers were bigger than the four 4" speakers in the Aiwa; and as such, both the old Philips and this Aiwa were actually quite comparable with regards to actual maximum volume performance.

Sound Quality
The sound quality, though definitely not hi-fi, is better than most boom boxes. To change the sound of the music, you can turn the bass boost on or off, and turn the surround sound on or off. The surround sound does make the stereo seperation sound wider, but does not produce a convincing surround-sound effect as "our" Philips does with only two speakers. This can be a good thing, as the Philips surround sound could make some songs sound worse. It maintains its composure all the way up to maximum volume without buzzing or losing fidelity. The bass boost is quite good; as good as the Philips, and probably as good as you're going to get in a unit of this size cost. I think having two larger speakers would've made this unit sound better than the four 4" speakers do; but it is a boom box.

Features
Besides the speakers and 4 amplifier drive, it's a CD/MP3 player with a cassette deck and and AM/FM tuner. Only the tape deck buttons are mechanical; all other controls are digital, including the volume level, power, and radio tuning. This gives this boom box a touch of high end class. Surprisingly, it also sports a "Line in" jack next to the headphones. There is a sleep timer, making this a good unit for the bedroom. Also surprisingly, it comes with a remote control which requires a paragraph all to itself.

Design
The design is rather unique; it's tall up front, and tapers down at the back, where the heat syncs for the amplifiers can be seen through the vents. At around 13 lbs., it's no lightweight; then again, the more power you have, the heavier the system is going to be. The odd shape makes it unsuitable for storage in a locker. Clearly, this unit is designed to look good with an industrial look.

The Remote!
Lately, all of my electronics have come with loathsome remotes. Not so here. For starters, this one takes two AA. I'm talking regular batteries here! It works even when pointed away from the radio! Buttons are of different shapes depending on their function, some have raised bumps on them making it easy to find your way around it without looking, and the remote is contoured to your hand, so it is both ergonomic and intuitive! All but the cassette deck functions are accessable by remote; even the ability to power the system on and off! I'm just simply blown away that more attention to detail was paid to a remote for this boombox than there was for the remote for a more expensive LCD TV or DVD recorder!

The MP3 player
The backlit display is not dot matrix; rather, it displays numbers, so you can see the folder number and track number. I would've liked to see a disply more like the one on my Philips MP3 player that would actually display the name of the files as it plays them. The MP3 files themselves load quickly.

The cassette deck
It's 2006, already. I bought this unit in 2005. Why are we still seeing cassette decks? I don't think I ever ejected it. I say, get rid of it, and put a remote control holder in its place. Oh, wait...I found an old cassette tape that was being used to support the corner of a stand in the basement. I put it in and tested it; it actually sounds pretty good! Yep, the tape deck works. I even recorded a bit from the MP3 player and radio. Enough of that ancient technology from the dark ages.

The radio
The radio features presets that it remembers even without power. There are 20 FM and 10 AM presets. Tuning is digital, so there's no problem with signal fade.

Conclusion
It's a good radio for the price. Sound quality is good, power is very good for the price, and it is loaded with features; some of them not found on boom boxes in this price range. It's suitable for louder environments, where you need a boom box to keep its composure at high volume levels. Although I would've preferred two larger, higher powered speakers, along with a dot matrix display for the MP3 player and various functions, this boom box still delivers the goods.