Looks, Features, Price, versitility, Ease of use

Hard to find

Welcome to My review of the Aiwa XC-35M! I really Like what Aiwa has done with thier A/v products. This cd changer is very set apart form the rest. Visually, it looks like it's a very futristic player, and It is! The display is a real treat with more visual appeal than most 5CD changers in its class. As far as the audio goes, it defiinatly is awesome. it has one of the best D/A converters for a cd-player and it has alot of features for such a low priced cd-player! I am really surprized that Aiwa made this so easy to use! it's simple! plug and play! And dance your cares away! And it hooks up easy so you'll get your groove on faster than ever before! I highly reccommend this Hi-Fi Aiwa cd-changer!!!!

Similar Products Used:

Other Fine Aiwa audio/vedeo products

Price/Features

Noisy Disc Exchange

I have recently tested several "budget" priced CD players.
Here's the list:

Technics SL-PD8
JVC XL-FZ258
TEAC 3200
AIWA XC-37M

In this price range, or possibly ANY, all CD players (1 bit DAC) sound fairly similar. It comes down to build quality and features for the buck. The AIWA XC-37M , IMO, is the winner HANDS DOWN! The Technics is a very light weight, plastic unit and I feel that it will not stand up to "heavey use". The JVC XL0FZ258 dose not have a time counter that lists remaining time on the CD. It's tray is also tempermental.The TEAC PD-D3200 does not have a power button on the remote. It also takes a long time to "randomize" selections. Now the AIWA. The only negative points I can make about this unit are: Very large size (6" high, 20 lbs),
and NOISY exchange tray. These are nits for the positives...

Here are the +'s:
*Best build quality for the money.
*Full functional remote (large)
*Optical Out
*Reads CD-R and CD-RW disc's
*Has edit capabilty (can sense space on xfers to tape)
*Direct Track Access
*Good Time Display
*Excellent sound quality (bass,mids,highs)
*AIWA customer service actually answers the phone in a very timely manner!

Similar Products Used:

Technics,TEAC,JVC,Onkyo

Direct Disc Change, Cheap, Optical Audio Output, Full function Remote

Noisy Disc change, Remote oversized, Cabinet dimension too big.

None

Similar Products Used:

None

It feels more well designed than the other players with optical out in it's price range.

Excessive flashing lights in front. Unit and remote are both really huge, but who cares?

The only thing I really mind about this player is that during while a CD is playing, lights flash on the front in FOUR different places. You have the play button flashing, the disc button flashing, the track number on the LCD flashing, and the disc number on the LCD flashing. It's unnecessary and annoying, especially since there's no way of disabling it (other than taking the thing apart maybe). But other than that, it's a great player. Whatever you do, unless you're really hardcore and you have some old expensive receiver without digital inputs that you don't wanna give up, don't buy any cd player above the sub-$100US range, because the optical outputs make them all sound exactly as they should. When I first started shopping for a cd player, I was uncertain about this because it just didn't make sense to me that stores could get away with selling $300 units that output exactly the same sound as the entry level models, even though it seemed obvious that this would be true with digtal signals. I asked a salesperson, got some garbage about the laser being better on the harmon kardon, blah blah blah. Then I did my homework and realized I should have trusted my ability to detect the obvious :P. Also, the analog output is pretty good too. I only give it a four star for overall because of the thing with the lights... it just seems like someone at aiwa should have realized some people might find it annoying, and at least added a way to disable it.

Similar Products Used:

none

dirt cheap!, sounds as good as any cd player on the market!

none.

sounds perfect with the optical out. can't speak for the analog out. a cd player is a cd player, as much as nitpickers would like to argue a digital signal is a digital signal, no matter it's source!

note! I own the 37m

Similar Products Used:

jvc,sony.

Cool Flashy design, Dual D/A converters, sounds really really good for a $99 player

It's built by Aiwa

I really do like this Cd player. Its a great buy. The flashy display is nice(most cd displays are small and boring) It seems to work fine for me, my only complaint would be the the changing mechanism is not as well built as it could be, but then again it's only $99. My favorite feature about this cd player is that it has a window on the top of it so you can see what cds are what number. If you are looking for a cd player that will last few years....dont buy this. It wont last that long. However I think it would make a good cd player for a kid, cuz it has allot of extras.

awesome display and lighting and stuff like that(good cosmetics), optical out, good sound

moderately slow cd "eye", dont like the tilting of the disc holder tray, but not a major problem. just a cosmetic thing.

this is actually my aunts. i installed it at her house for her. its a nice piece of equipment overall. i can imagine some other audiophile would say "come on, it's an AIWA!! how good can it be??" well, jesus, its only a cd player. it line outs sound awesome and naturally the optical out is a good as your stereo can do. although, my 5 year old sony 5-disc, although it doesn't look as nice(actually, the aiwa is almost gaudy.... not quite, but close to the border) but it sounds a little bit better unless you use the aiwa's optical out

Similar Products Used:

Sony CDP-CE405 5-disc changer(1994 or 1995 model, i forget. its a GREAT player! 108 dB s/n)

Price, front panel direct track selection, build-quality for the money

I've noted some complaints on the remote, but none here. I prefer a bit larger buttons and extra spacing between them.

For the money, this a very good 5-disc unit. The overall build-quality is excellent for the price. The front panel is a bit over "glitzy" with all of the lights, some of them flashing during disc play. This is the first Aiwa unit I've ever owned, but I'm pleased with the unit. With the current market, one can own a very decent CD multi-disc player for between $50 and $90 if you keep an eye on the sales flyers.

The slant-tray transport system is a bit noisier than other multi-disc players I've used, but not enough to be objectionable. Overall, an excellent unit, and an absolute steal for $80.00!

Similar Products Used:

Panasonic, RCA, Sony

Produces great sound, active display, useful music search
buttons on the player, and the slant CD makes for a tray
not as wide an bulky as other players.

The remote is a little oversized.

I actually have the XC-37M - same player, but I can't find any differences. This player has excellent quality and clarity. The RCA audio out provide a clear signal, but the optical output is always a plus. I have had Aiwa mini systems for many years and they have never let me down. Their sound has always been above and beyond the competition - both in volume and frequency response. This player seems up to par with any other similar products with a very decent price. Definitely a great buy and a great sound!

Similar Products Used:

Misc. CD players