We all know about the Sony TPS-L2 and it's place in history but did you know that pretty much all the other major manufacturers had their products on the market within a year of it's launch?

So, I thought it would be fitting to get together these units for a very brief side-by-side comparison.

I'd dearly love to do a sound quality test but figured it wouldn't be fair considering the age of some of this kit.

Here's a brief spec list.....

(click to enlarge)

Panasonic RQ-J9

I'm not 100% certain but I suspect this was the first Panasonic walkman, it was either this or the virtually identical RQ-J33.  Panasonic were relatively late to the party but instead of closely copying the TPS-L2 like other manufacturers they developed a whole new form-factor.  Pretty identical in size to the Sony the Panasonic was 4mm thinner.  Construction used a pressed steel chassis with steel top body inc door with a plastic bottom with battery door.  Single headphone jack and no 'mute' button suggests how late to the market this product was.  High quality construction with solid feel.  Nice features include single volume slider, pause control and the EQ facility to play Metal tapes.

Sony TPS-L2

The one that started it all.  As we know, not an entirely new design as it was based around the 1978 TCS-600 Pressman but the Pressman's recording circuitry was removed to make way for the new stereo playback components so not exactly ground-breaking.  The major development which really started the fuss apart that is from the clever marketing was the small portable headphones, nothing like these had been seen before.  So, for 1979 you got a very basic no thrills play only unit with a almost useless 'tone' control plus pointless left and right volume sliders, but hey, we all wanted one, in fact over 2 million people paid $200 for them.  All metal construction with steel and plastic panel parts screwed to a steel chassis.

Sanyo M5550

This was a lovely piece of kit (yes, I'm biased), typical no-compromise Sanyo construction with a price to match.  While Sony was still making units based on the TPS-L2, ignoring the WM-2 for a second, Sanyo managed to reduce the width and depth of their offering thus making the smallest unit around at the time.  Beautifully made with all-steel parts, in fact, the only plastic I can see here is the clear perspex window and the buttons.  Stuffed into this unit is a 'mute/talk' line with mic plus a tape speed control.  There is also a 'Mix' control which lets you listen to the outside world whilst playing music so not the aggressive cut off that other 'mute' controls offered, a sort of half-way house for health and safety buffs.  The tape transport is a superb pices of work with damped 'stop' plus brass main pivot bushings.

Toshiba KT-S1

Toshiba doing what Toshiba do well, competitively priced equipment stuffed with features.  Don't be put off by the bulky plastic appearance the Toshiba was no slouch.  It was noticeably larger than the others but it had the removable radio cassette insert, in fact, I believe it was the first.  It needed a stonking 4 AA batteries to power this lump.  Beneath the plastic was a solid all-metal construction.  I struggle to like this unit but Toshiba sold nearly a million units which makes it the 2nd most popular unit here by a long long way.

JVC CQ-1k

Another late arrival to the market but JVC didn't disappoint, a very competitively priced all-metal offering with looks to die for.  Typical JVC brushed steel 'functional' appearance, not unlike the classic M70 boombox.   The only one here to feature Dolby NR but it was the latest in this line-up to be manufactured.  Quite a few of these around and they never seem to go for much which is a shame as I quite like it.

Aiwa TP-S30

These are great, a must for any collector.  Aiwa were kings of the no-thrills, high quality, feature packed consumer electronics at the time and 2nd only to market leaders Sony.  The S30 was Aiwa's1st Walkman and not to be outdone they featured a recording circuit plus 3-digit tape counter, pause control plus facility for a stereo mic to be attached.  OK, it wasn't cheap but $50 less than the Sony.  This would be the one that I would have bought BITD.  Again, another all-metal unit and noticeably smaller than the Sony.  Aiwa later stuffed a radio into this design to bring you the glorious CS-J1 which remained the most-expensive walkman for a few years. 

Sharp WF-50G

Last and probably least is the Sharp.  Sharp doing what Sharp do best, plastic made to look good.  I'm probably being unfair here but it must have been hard to get too inspired by this walkman in 1980 which is probably why it's certainly the rarest in this test, I've never seen another one of these.  Relatively cheaply made with a very wobbly feel and bulky appearance.  It's no slouch on the feature list boasting separate left and right volume sliders, an FM radio cassette insert plus metal tape feature.  One of the earliest units in this line-up and one of the cheapest.

So, to draw a conclusion on which is best would be hard as current desire based on collectability would differ greatly from making the decision back in 1981 based on budget and needs.  But if I were a image-conscious 22 year old wanting something to play his Kraftwerk on back in 1981 I'd almost have certainly not bought the Sony, my money would go towards either the Sanyo or the Aiwa.

So, just for a bit of fun really but it's nice to have seven of these early units all together.  Notable absentees include the huge but wonderful Akai PM-01 which I know I have somewhere but be buggered if I can find it.

It's also worth mentioning that we shouldn't under-estimate Sony's domination of the market at this time.  By the end of 1982 Sony were producing 8 different models including the WM-2 and the first 'budget' walkman the WM-1. 

Thanks

Very interesting review and some lovely looking examples of early Walkma's. I have to say that its the Aiwa, JVC and Sanyo units won my heart out of this lot; I would love to add those to my collection! The high build quality and sheer beauty of these!  How do they sound though? How do they compare to later machines?

Hi Seb, yes, I enjoyed doing this.  It would be unfair to put batteries in them and see how they sound without giving each one an overhaul with new belts, lube plus azimyth tweak. 

Thank you for bringing these earlier Walkmans together in this nice review! These early types are by far my favourite walkmans. I never noticed the jvc! 

I know what you mean, my TPS-L2 and WM-7 are always in need of some form of TLC. The belts don't seem to last very long either!

I remember my older brother having one of the early budget clones. His was a Cap10 and it looked a lot like the Sony but larger if i recall correctly. It did not sound very good.

This must have been 1981 or 82.

Lovely collection. It would be the Aiwa for me without any doubt. I have never heard a Sony that I rated above an equivalent Aiwa. Apart from the sound quality and clever engineering Aiwa's always were a tactile treat.

This is a great, very informative,  thanks for taking the time out to do this AO.

Yes thank you for this very useful and educational post!

Made me remember of my very first cassette stuff, when I was still nine and before I had heard of walkmans at all: it was a grey-plastic mono Panasonic, but able to record, and featuring a little speaker. It probably wasn't much bigger than those nice toys you've just shown though. It's probably still lying unscrewed and collecting dust on one shelf in my mother's house...

Great to see you posting again on your wonderful Walkmans Cris! This is indeed an excellent thread, with beautiful pics and an equally informative and enjoyable narrative. I have been after a Sanyo M5550 for ages, but except for that unit, the Sony TPS-L2 and the Aiwa TP-S30, I had no idea of the existence of the other models. And then there's an Akai--wow! To my eyes, all of them are lovely -- yes even the Sharp! But I guess that, given a choice back in the day, I too would have gone for either the Aiwa or the Sanyo.

That is a wonderfully descriptive summary of how much of our early gear ended up!! My first cassette machine was also a Panasonic; a bright yellow thing that I inherited from my sister when she left home (It was an RQ-711s I think) I had hours of fun with that little machine; God knows where it is now; probably sitting in an attic somewhere mouldering away. If only I had known that I would one day collect this stuff!

Thanks guys.

Something I noticed while doing this... The Sony is the only one with controls designed for right-handed users, all the others are the round way wrong so to speak.

Funny that you say that Agent, because I have had this kind of thought while viewing your photos. Oddly enough I didn't remark the Sony but I thought the JVC was reverse-handed from others...

Really enjoyable reads thanks AO, im a real newbie when it comes to walkmans so this was really interesting for me. I love the Sanyo but am also drawn to the JVC.

Oh yeah, the JVC too.  it's funny, you look at these things for years and fail to notice the obvious.

Thanks Tre.  it's the period that many collectors gloss over. There were no major innovations, no auto-reverse or graphic eualizers etc, it was just about establishing a foothold in the market, some managed, some failed.

Ya know, considering this is at the forefront of the Walkman period the Sanyo is still very much recognisably a Sanyo, as is the JVC. They also look quality right from the off. It seems they nailed the design aesthetics pretty much straight off and it was the feature set that grew. The construction of these is what always interests me so Im glad you include info about that.

I love the tactile feel of a mainly metal based construction. Im gonna have to get me one i think.

Excellent read .

Great read! Thanks for posting this.

Very interesting post,  only for curiosity when was launched the first european walkman?philips, grundig etc...

Good question and obviously there were others around at this time but nothing very notable.  Some US stores had offerings inc JC Penny and some US manufacturers eg Emerson, GE & Craig made some very basic units.  One exception being the Cybernet PS-101 which was actually quite good.  The first European model was the Grundig Beat-Boy 100 from 1981. 

The eagle-eyed amongst you will notice that this Grundig is a clone/AKA.  Which raises the age-old question amongst Walkman collectors, who was making these clones and how come they were being produced so early on in the evolution of the walkman?  A quandary that almost drove board member Autoreverser to his grave with frustration.  'Who made the Westman?' became the holy grail question amongst collectors and we are no nearer to finding the answer, but the fact remains, only months after Sony launched the TPS-L2 a small Asian factory had designed and developed a cheap alternative that actually wasn't that bad, but most of all it could be bought for a 6th of the price of the Sony.  It's worth mentioning also that more of these clones exist today than probably any other walkman from the 1980/81 period so someone was doing something right and clearly taking full advantage of Sony's decision not to patent the format.

Autoreverser's legacy - http://REPLACEMENT ERROR/topic...n-goes-on--lank-pics

Grundig Beat-Boy 100

...and following:

Get that off my pre-81 thread, it has no place here !!!!

And it's probably German

terrific review chris,curses i need to get back into walkies again now lol

Hitachi were relatively late to the market and only appeared when things got smaller after the Sony WM-2.  I seem to recall the CP-1 was their first from around 82/83

Thats a sweet looking machine A.O. 

wohohohooo - so wrong, bro, gotta dig deeper...

b.t.w. i'm german, right ? be aware i'm preparing a little stratagem tonight :-)

Oh, OK. What was the first Hitachi then Tesla boy?

...hmmm, now THAT was a mistake, u made me dig in boxes i should better have never opened again 

...f.ex. there's a silver version of the SANYO:

also found this great ActiveSound MS-700 autoreverse with radio-cartridge, I'm extremely convinced that in those few boxes below this one there should be quite a few AKA's of this...

Hey, and a TELEFUNKEN CFM 3 with three programmable fm-stations and METAL, woohhow !

This one's quite a beauty: STARVOX MDC, I bet it's a Sanyo-clone inside, got a few similar ones somewhere of other brands, promise, will dig'em out...

Hey, and a lovely PANASONIC (RX-2700):

and a (quite brutal) Poppy Sound Jogger:

only beaten by this International Sound Product (...I call it: another brick in the wall...):

Let's talk about accessories: active speaker (seriously don't sound bad !):

Or - and those are my favourites - these stereo-booster, it's a set of two active speaker

in a beautyful 80'es bag - but checkout how lucky that girl is - do you recognize the portable-stereo ???

...nice sky-suite :-)

....aaaaaaand: the father of fathers of all Walkman (serious !!!),

a 1946 or 7 PROTONA MINIFON, recording on a hair-thin steelwire !!!

...back on the ground - look at this loovely cutey little WALKMAN-bag (can't find a smiley with hearty-hearts )

OOUHKAY, there's NO old Hitachi yet, but I'm sure I have a Hitachi-brickster in one of those 4 or 5 moving-boxes 

ooops, almost forgot the SHEBRO-Walker:

...to be continued...

Oh glorious stuff sir, you never fail to deliver. 

That Sanyo is a superb find, i've seen it in red but never silver. Looks like it may need some TLC, i have a parts one if you need it. 

The other units are interesting and I suspect that the ActiveSound, the Starvox and my Sharp must use the same platform as they look remarkably similar.

I wonder though how old these are, the designs of the boxes and the text suggest before 85 but I question whether they are pre-81 with the obvious exception of the Minifon.  WTF is that thing, what's the play medium?

You look like you're having the same kind of day as me.

another so-called "Westman"-clone:

TECSTAR TPS-1 (TecstarPortableStereo ? or Sony-inspired ?)):

Here's an excerpt from the user-manual - unbelievable, I need a shackled shirt now !!!

...I'm off now to the charity-shop, trying to find some ski-suite in red, so I can try the most relaxing influence of a STEREO BOOSTER BAG on the floor nownow...

...and a shackled shirt ;-)

...rightyright, here's another early german Nordmende Stereo-Clipper and some (...serious) milestone,

a CYBERNET Mini Concert - an AKA of it was made by AKAI, as much as I know the 1st one ever featuring Dolby (the Cybernet doesn't...):

...houwouwouw, found more boxes :-/

I am speechless... That Protonian Minifon is a portable recorder right? Never seen one before this thread -- it's a real museum piece!

Interesting boxes Autoreverser..... but the storage is a bit strange:-) 

I thought that too.  If you ask me, it's the sign of a collector who's heart just isn't in it any more.

The last picture drives me bananas!

...me too !

Excellent reading Agent! I was a bit too young when these models arised the market. And also I was living in a veeery small village in the middle of nowhere, so the most advanced technology I saw those years was a CASIO watch with alarm.

I'm curious to know when was released the Sanyo M6060 I got the other day. I guess it's earlier than that M5550, right?

Odd as it may seem, the M6060 was launched in 1984.  Despite it's looks in did have Metal tape facility plus Auto Reverse which suggests a much later year of production.

@AO: You missed out one thing on the Panasonic RQ-J9, it does have a tone select in conjunction with the so called tape select. Normal H, Normal L/Metal H and Metal L.

Lapis posted:

@AO: You missed out one thing on the Panasonic RQ-J9, it does have a tone select in conjunction with the so called tape select. Normal H, Normal L/Metal H and Metal L.

great text.  Can you show a picture to back this up Please?

Lapis posted:

@AO: You missed out one thing on the Panasonic RQ-J9, it does have a tone select in conjunction with the so called tape select. Normal H, Normal L/Metal H and Metal L.

Well, to be fair, this control on walkmans was never really a tone or tape select, it was really just a bias setting which could be set at various stages between high and low, it could have 10 settings for what good it did.  Good spot though, I did actually miss that.  Glad you enjoyed the write up, it's more for fun than an accurate appraisal.

@AO: It was just a three stage tone switch really. It would be better to have a four stage switch rather than a three stage switch in order to match up better with the JVC and Sharp.

[Normal High, Normal Low, Metal High, Metal Low] (Preferable over NH, NL/MH, ML)

I would get the JVC because of the audio focused things like tape switch, tone switch and dolby/anrs switch. If the Panasonic RQ-J9 have a four position as said before, it will be on par with the Sharp in this case or even the JVC but without the Dolby ANRS.

JamesRC550 posted:

Lapis posted:

@AO: You missed out one thing on the Panasonic RQ-J9, it does have a tone select in conjunction with the so called tape select. Normal H, Normal L/Metal H and Metal L.

great text.  Can you show a picture to back this up Please?

Lapis posted:

I would get the JVC because of the audio focused things like tape switch, tone switch and dolby/anrs switch. If the Panasonic RQ-J9 have a four position as said before, it will be on par with the Sharp in this case or even the JVC but without the Dolby ANRS.

As Ive said before, gimmicks don't mean quality.   Look at Citroen cars.