Aiwa XS-G3 Mini Audio System
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- Number of Discs: 3
- Sound Type: Stereo
- Functions: CD Player
- Output Power: 120 Watt PMPO
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Easy on Eye and Ear
Pros
Minimalist styling, quality sound at a budget price
Cons
Poor speaker wiring, and a moving tape cover with potential for damage
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
Easy on the eye styling, with a quality sound above it's price range, and well thought out features from one of the better consumer electronic companies.
The Aiwa XS-G3 is an affordable mini-system ideal for the bedroom, office, or small family room. For those of you that don't know, Aiwa is Sony Corp's low cost brand. Ironically where the Aiwa XS-G3 sits, it tends to be in a bit of a no-man's land in market terms because of its budget orientated price. It is too low cost to satisfy the higher end market for this product; and not aggressive enough in styling terms to appeal to the broader segment of the value priced market. The Aiwa mini system was purchased after a lot of local leg work as a secret Christmas present for the wife. After hearing several months of hints about the old boom box, I'd had enough hints to last me to next Christmas and beyond!
A review of the November '01 issue of Consumer Reports yielded a list of 13 potential suspects, but only 7 systems came into the magical $200 price range, and provided the necessary features alluded to by my ever persistent wife. While the Yamaha GX-505 appealed very much to my head, it failed the wallet test at circa $400. It is a little smaller, than the Aiwa, and the sound is definitely a notch or two better. But, that said, it's not "that much" better. Initially the Aiwa XS-G3 was not on the radar as it was not included in the Consumer Reports article. A local market survey of Best Buy, Circuit City, Sams Club, Costco, and a few of the local outlets yielded additional suspects. I then hunkered down on the computer for a few hours or so, the specs for the different systems were divined, and a list of potentials drawn up. The Aiwa XS-G3 was observed slumbering on the shelf at Circuit City for around $175.00. It looked good, until a visit to one of the many Costcos here revealed a clutch of Aiwas nesting out in the electronics section. Ironically, the Aiwa, at this point, was still not in the running. A very cute Teac had my attention. Initially, the plan was to purchase a small system capable of playing one CD, and no tape deck. Before making an investment, it was clearly time to take the wife shopping and listen carefully to her parameters for a mini system.
A visit to the local mall allowed the requirements to be analyzed discretely. It became very obvious that the little Teac would not cut mustard in this household, a system with no tape deck and a single CD player was out. It was now getting ever closer to Christmas, and it was obvious that we were in a state of "analysis paralysis." Sitting down once more with the list of requirements, and the list of vendors yielded several choices. However, all with the exception of the Aiwa had a very aggressive style, excessive features, and in some cases compromised sound quality.
The Purchasing Decision:
In the end it was the Aiwa, and here's why. The unit is compact, with a very clean look, and not too many useless functions to complicate the relatively simple process of playing music. The Aiwa sports a 3 CD player, with compatibility for CD-R, and CD RW playback. This is essential given my wife's propensity for recording her own compilation albums. It has a good enough FM/AM tuner that is relatively sensitive in low signal areas. Most important it has a single tape deck for play back, or record. As we are exiting the cassette format this was useful as my wife still has hordes of cassettes secreted around that she can not bear to part with. The unit has an integral 60 watt amp (per channel, 120 watts total)...ample capacity to cope with the wife's 20x20 art studio. The remote control is excellent, and easy to use. The speakers are a surprise. Being a reformed Hi-Fi nut, I had really low expectations. They happily exceeded them, and perform very well for the price, the package and the ear. They are not quite up to Mission's, JBL, Bose et al., but in this case more than "good enough." The Cassette deck is hidden from view by a large blue plastic cover. Unless selected this cover remains down covering the tape deck. The deck itself is a post box style, which I have not seen used in years on home systems (i.e. the same as the one on the dash of your car.)The tape deck works very well indeed, the tapes sound almost as good as my old defunct Nakimachi. The stereo separation is good, and the response range more than adequate for its application.
The Good Stuff:
It's easy to use; easy to set-up. The remote works very well, and drives all available features. The unit is pleasing on the eye, and quite small, but not miniaturized to the extent of some of the premium players in the market. Settings and all kind of strange messages - even Good Bye when you turn it off - are displayed on the LCD display.
The Not So Good:
Well, sad to say the speaker cables are mounted inside the cabinets. That really sucks for the non-electrically inclined among us, as this means a trip to the repair shop if you cut through the cable. Also, it precludes upgrading the speaker wire - without surgery. There are no tone controls available on this unit. For those of you that really believe you need tone controls don't buy this unit. Instead it offers a so-called graphic equalizer, with a series of fixed settings for your music style - again available from the remote control. They actually work surprisingly well, all things considered. I was turned off when considering this unit, by the moving blue plastic window (to access the cassette.) This is a motorized widget that one day is bound to break down. I hope we will not be using cassette tapes then. Also, as the window slides up, above the unit, this could make it more vulnerable to damage potential. If you have little fingers around the house, that tape deck will be awfully attractive to candy posting tots. The door could be a blessing in keeping those little fingers out, but a liability in terms of potential for damage. There are some strange features, such as the ability to change the LCD color. Also, the Aiwa was one of the worst offenders in the consumer reports (note; not this specific model) for wasting electricity on stand-by. Nearly all competitive units were not much to shout home about in this department.
Living with the Aiwa:
Well, I chose the Aiwa on the basis of price, performance, and feature set. I also discovered that it was a lot heavier than some of the competing units, as I struggled to get it into the house without my wife noticing. For the next week, it sat in front of the fire place, all wrapped up in Christmas paper, with a large bow, and surrounded by the other "surprise" presents we had collected for each other (and the cat). The Aiwa, was wonderfully packaged, and showed typical attention to detail that the Japanese consumer electronics industry is famous for. The box had all the specs printed on the outside, and full color picture, and everything. In fact it almost did not need Christmas paper! (Boy did it need a lot of wrapping paper!)
Come Christmas day, the wife was delighted with her present. It had exactly the features she wanted, and a wonderfully handsome looking system it was too! So, first thing Christmas morning, there I was connecting it up pronto! There were no shortages, the instructions were fine, and everything worked straight away. The manufacturer does require a minimum space be left around the unit for cooling, and explicitly advises against building it in. It does, however, fit perfectly on a shelf. The unit does indeed play all our tapes and all of our CDs (including those recorded compilations my wife loves to make). The radio reception works well, but as we are on a hill, that's no great electronic triumph (our antique 1930 and 1940 radios do just fine as well.) The Aiwa's ergonomics work well, and the styling actually works very well in the home environment; in fact better than in the store! The sound quality is very good. It's not top flight gear, so don't get fooled by what I am saying here. It is very passable for listening to all kinds of music. It works very well with Techno and Jazz. Rock music is great, but I suspect it may not have the full depth of base demanded by some listeners, so Rap listeners may be disappointed with this particular system.
Conclusion:
It's been a fine purchase, and an even better present. It has been a great surprise to me, the skeptic, and a pleasant one for the wife. It will work well for most musical tastes except for heavy bass listeners - but you are going to go deaf anyway! :-) It is one of the heaviest consumers of power on standby in its class, circa 17 watts. Reliability should be good.
If money is no object consider the Yamaha GX-505. The Consumer Reports recommended best buy was a Sony and a JVC unit for around $200 each (Consumer Reports Web Site URL: www.consumerreports.org - while you are there take out a subscription, they do great work!). I looked at both these units. They are indeed excellent, but the Aiwa was lower cost, and more subdued styling (nice way of saying it looked better.)
A review of the November '01 issue of Consumer Reports yielded a list of 13 potential suspects, but only 7 systems came into the magical $200 price range, and provided the necessary features alluded to by my ever persistent wife. While the Yamaha GX-505 appealed very much to my head, it failed the wallet test at circa $400. It is a little smaller, than the Aiwa, and the sound is definitely a notch or two better. But, that said, it's not "that much" better. Initially the Aiwa XS-G3 was not on the radar as it was not included in the Consumer Reports article. A local market survey of Best Buy, Circuit City, Sams Club, Costco, and a few of the local outlets yielded additional suspects. I then hunkered down on the computer for a few hours or so, the specs for the different systems were divined, and a list of potentials drawn up. The Aiwa XS-G3 was observed slumbering on the shelf at Circuit City for around $175.00. It looked good, until a visit to one of the many Costcos here revealed a clutch of Aiwas nesting out in the electronics section. Ironically, the Aiwa, at this point, was still not in the running. A very cute Teac had my attention. Initially, the plan was to purchase a small system capable of playing one CD, and no tape deck. Before making an investment, it was clearly time to take the wife shopping and listen carefully to her parameters for a mini system.
A visit to the local mall allowed the requirements to be analyzed discretely. It became very obvious that the little Teac would not cut mustard in this household, a system with no tape deck and a single CD player was out. It was now getting ever closer to Christmas, and it was obvious that we were in a state of "analysis paralysis." Sitting down once more with the list of requirements, and the list of vendors yielded several choices. However, all with the exception of the Aiwa had a very aggressive style, excessive features, and in some cases compromised sound quality.
The Purchasing Decision:
In the end it was the Aiwa, and here's why. The unit is compact, with a very clean look, and not too many useless functions to complicate the relatively simple process of playing music. The Aiwa sports a 3 CD player, with compatibility for CD-R, and CD RW playback. This is essential given my wife's propensity for recording her own compilation albums. It has a good enough FM/AM tuner that is relatively sensitive in low signal areas. Most important it has a single tape deck for play back, or record. As we are exiting the cassette format this was useful as my wife still has hordes of cassettes secreted around that she can not bear to part with. The unit has an integral 60 watt amp (per channel, 120 watts total)...ample capacity to cope with the wife's 20x20 art studio. The remote control is excellent, and easy to use. The speakers are a surprise. Being a reformed Hi-Fi nut, I had really low expectations. They happily exceeded them, and perform very well for the price, the package and the ear. They are not quite up to Mission's, JBL, Bose et al., but in this case more than "good enough." The Cassette deck is hidden from view by a large blue plastic cover. Unless selected this cover remains down covering the tape deck. The deck itself is a post box style, which I have not seen used in years on home systems (i.e. the same as the one on the dash of your car.)The tape deck works very well indeed, the tapes sound almost as good as my old defunct Nakimachi. The stereo separation is good, and the response range more than adequate for its application.
The Good Stuff:
It's easy to use; easy to set-up. The remote works very well, and drives all available features. The unit is pleasing on the eye, and quite small, but not miniaturized to the extent of some of the premium players in the market. Settings and all kind of strange messages - even Good Bye when you turn it off - are displayed on the LCD display.
The Not So Good:
Well, sad to say the speaker cables are mounted inside the cabinets. That really sucks for the non-electrically inclined among us, as this means a trip to the repair shop if you cut through the cable. Also, it precludes upgrading the speaker wire - without surgery. There are no tone controls available on this unit. For those of you that really believe you need tone controls don't buy this unit. Instead it offers a so-called graphic equalizer, with a series of fixed settings for your music style - again available from the remote control. They actually work surprisingly well, all things considered. I was turned off when considering this unit, by the moving blue plastic window (to access the cassette.) This is a motorized widget that one day is bound to break down. I hope we will not be using cassette tapes then. Also, as the window slides up, above the unit, this could make it more vulnerable to damage potential. If you have little fingers around the house, that tape deck will be awfully attractive to candy posting tots. The door could be a blessing in keeping those little fingers out, but a liability in terms of potential for damage. There are some strange features, such as the ability to change the LCD color. Also, the Aiwa was one of the worst offenders in the consumer reports (note; not this specific model) for wasting electricity on stand-by. Nearly all competitive units were not much to shout home about in this department.
Living with the Aiwa:
Well, I chose the Aiwa on the basis of price, performance, and feature set. I also discovered that it was a lot heavier than some of the competing units, as I struggled to get it into the house without my wife noticing. For the next week, it sat in front of the fire place, all wrapped up in Christmas paper, with a large bow, and surrounded by the other "surprise" presents we had collected for each other (and the cat). The Aiwa, was wonderfully packaged, and showed typical attention to detail that the Japanese consumer electronics industry is famous for. The box had all the specs printed on the outside, and full color picture, and everything. In fact it almost did not need Christmas paper! (Boy did it need a lot of wrapping paper!)
Come Christmas day, the wife was delighted with her present. It had exactly the features she wanted, and a wonderfully handsome looking system it was too! So, first thing Christmas morning, there I was connecting it up pronto! There were no shortages, the instructions were fine, and everything worked straight away. The manufacturer does require a minimum space be left around the unit for cooling, and explicitly advises against building it in. It does, however, fit perfectly on a shelf. The unit does indeed play all our tapes and all of our CDs (including those recorded compilations my wife loves to make). The radio reception works well, but as we are on a hill, that's no great electronic triumph (our antique 1930 and 1940 radios do just fine as well.) The Aiwa's ergonomics work well, and the styling actually works very well in the home environment; in fact better than in the store! The sound quality is very good. It's not top flight gear, so don't get fooled by what I am saying here. It is very passable for listening to all kinds of music. It works very well with Techno and Jazz. Rock music is great, but I suspect it may not have the full depth of base demanded by some listeners, so Rap listeners may be disappointed with this particular system.
Conclusion:
It's been a fine purchase, and an even better present. It has been a great surprise to me, the skeptic, and a pleasant one for the wife. It will work well for most musical tastes except for heavy bass listeners - but you are going to go deaf anyway! :-) It is one of the heaviest consumers of power on standby in its class, circa 17 watts. Reliability should be good.
If money is no object consider the Yamaha GX-505. The Consumer Reports recommended best buy was a Sony and a JVC unit for around $200 each (Consumer Reports Web Site URL: www.consumerreports.org - while you are there take out a subscription, they do great work!). I looked at both these units. They are indeed excellent, but the Aiwa was lower cost, and more subdued styling (nice way of saying it looked better.)
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