Greetings From A Slightly Crazy Boombox Collector!! Well, after last months Aiwa CA-R80 Compo System sarger I wondered if I could maybe find a similar Aiwa compo with a single direction cassette deck............. Just two days & very little money later - This little fellow arrived well packed & exactly as described by seller!! A good start I mused as I inspected my newly acquired Aiwa CA-30 Stereo Compo System! It had a broken handle but all the parts had been kept & wrapped up seperately!! The handle had a spring missing that tensions the steel locking tab that locks the handle to the main unit! This arrangement also locks the two speakers solidly to the stereo! The other end of the handle was fine & a quick flash of inspiration led me to the scrap machine cupboard & a mini that I bought to save another - One battery spring removed, cut & shaped to fit the handle's end cavity & push the latch inwards - After a couple of days in a warm cupboard & taped tightly together to make sure the glue had bonded really tightly, it was functioning as intended & now locked firmly on to the stereo!! I just had to repair the handle as soon as I unpacked it while the idea was fresh in my now slowly failing brain! (Brain Stem Stroke in March 2013) Memory is fine from the past but often simple tasks become a nightmare & things go wrong Anyway I digress.........We now had a working handle if nothing else Later that day, I began opening up the main unit wondering fervently that I hadn't shot myself in the leg with this one! I was already a little despondent after battling with a huge Goldstar TSR-950 the past few days & losing the battle for now.........I thought that this machine would be a piece of pie & that I would soon finish it!! That is of course another story & a later post!! Once inside the Aiwa I quickly & easily removed the cassette deck mechanism - All pluggable connectors & a really great design - well built & a delight to work on! Everything going swim well.............until I saw the remains of the two rubber belts!! A real mess so time to take a short break for a tumbler full of ice cold orange pop & a small cakey thing - You can't beat that Dr Kipling Nicely refreshed & recharged it was time to break out the surgical spirit & old cloths & remove all of the dreaded sludge from both sides of the mechanism! That took me over an hour to get it really clean & ready for rebelting............ The very large flywheel is driven by a flat belt & the reel drive is via a square belt that goes under the flywheel the same level as the reel drive pulley - So easy to rebelt you would surmise.........Well the reel belt is very easy to fit leaving just the flatty to go around the motor pulley & flywheel!! This was one part of the repair that elicited a lot of very rude expletives as you have to do a balancing act with the top plate, motor pulley & belt at the same time! This took me a good half hour to get right (First time in the years before the stroke) & the belt despite being a perfect match had other ideas!! Once on I was able to take a break & hope that whatever followed would be easy sailing for me!! A cursary run through manually confirmed that the soft touch mechanism was doing everything correctly which was a great feeling & was no longer all caught up in the tentyhooks & swearing at the cassette deck!! Time to turn to the electronics now - All switches & pots were dirty to the point of virtually no operation or audio at all............ A new can of service oil was brandished, the hopelessly unreliable "Straw" attached to it's nozzle & I was ready to take it to "The Next Level" whatever the fuck that means!! I forgot to mention that every stage of this repair was "Key" - isn't everything these days?? "It's OK - I've Got This" I announced to myself as the switch cleaner penetrated every hole & orifice in sight! (I knew a girl like that once with the similar preferences - Another time & another story perhaps!!) I noticed that the volume pot was almost stuck but it soon moved as easily as all the other controls after being worked with cleaner!! This was turning out to be a long evening, so I put it all aside until the following afternoon............. Refreshed & all ready to continue "My Journey" I cued up the media server & continued as some great songs flowed out of my Wharfendale Xarus 5000 floorstanders! (I know I spelt it wrong - Long story) The bass from these monsters is tremendous, even at low volumes, bass rolls out of these effortlessly & although spiked & on a solid concrete floor, it is still deep tight & you can feel it!! I love these speakers! Anyway, back to the patient the Aiwa compo........... So yesterday it was time to drop the cassette mechanism back into the chassis, plug in my headphones & apply power.............. Well - Instead of being left looking like a melon I was delighted as everything just worked - What a great result & maybe I can still repair audio & Hi-Fi after all??? By now, all that remained was to clean up the empty one piece front & sides casing plus the silver knobs & switch caps which was easy taking less that an hour to get it all gleaming!! Reassemble & fit speakers (Also polished up) then clip handle on the top & this little guy is ready sing again for many years to come......... The Sound?? - Very typical Aiwa sound from 1984/85, rich powerful sound with excellent soundstage & stereo separation! The superb cassette deck with it's huge flywheel delivers a very solid stable sound, the tuner too is very good indeed with good sensitivity!! The soft touch controls & music search also work faultlessly...........I have most certainly not bitten myself in the foot with this one - What a great stereo & I felt at that moment that I had indeed, caught up with the even keels as I sat in front of it & just played lots of different tapes on it testing it for any faults of which there were none!! Time to show off my Aiwa CA-30 Stereo Compo System! Headphones or decent speakers mandatory to hear it at it's best! Stereo recording........ Et Viola: Hi-Res Images Here: https://onedrive.live.com/?id=BEA218B70F2B18D1!31747&cid=BEA218B70F2B18D1
Maestro, you are an Inspiration!!!! Great boxes and an inspired write-ups, if we ever get Dude like you from Walkmans side, then I may flip... until then I am following The Master!
I have the same machine. But it has no signs of life. I want to repair it. Up: my AIWA CA-30 alive again! beautiful sound!!
Aiwa has used the same mechanics for several years of production and in many different models... practically a handyman mechanics But where did I first see that cassette mechanism... AIWA cs-770AE repair ... restoration | Stereo2Go forums
