Summary:
This is a great personal cassette player. It has a clear sound quality that is not usually found on cassette players in this price range. But, there is one flaw: the autoreverse head sometimes suffers from alignment problems due to its fixed head. The problem is easily fixed by using the opposite playback direction for playing the trouble cassette. The alignment problem is very minor and is not unusual for an autoreverse personal cassette player. I have had 5 autoreverse personal cassette players and the one that had perfect alignment died within 2 months. It was one of three defective Panasonics that I had had (the other two had head alignment problems, the one that died had a defective motor). Anyways, the Aiwa is one of the now rare personal cassette players that has Dolby B noise reduction. Also, the Aiwa has very uncomfortable and cheap-looking headphones that sound GREAT! Although I can't stand to wear them for more than 20 minutes, the headphones have a wide soundstage and reproduce sound very accurately. They are a shade bright though. All being considered, the Aiwa HS-TX694 is a personal cassette player worth considering.