Just picked up this plastic fantastic AIWA CA-DW95 from 1987 thinking it might be their first CD boombox. I'm not finding the right catalog pages to confirm. Usually I walk by this type, they all seem to be very similar even the different brands all seem to use the same buttons and dials.
I paid up, $20 USD for it but that was mostly because I think it's their first CD box but I have no idea? Even in 87 the CD would have been expensive, the rest of the controls are entry-level.
I owned that exact boombox. Back in 1988 I was shopping for my first boombox and had a very specific set of criteria. CD player first and foremost. highspeed dubbing dual cassette deck, detachable speakers, and EQ. In the VHS video of my 18th birthday in 1990 you can see the boombox in a shot. I loved that thing but it eventually failed. I can't say for sure that it was their first CD boombox but it had to be close, if not. I know Aiwa was a test brand for Sony so it often had features that didn't roll out under the Sony brand yet. High quality stuff too. I remember struggling to find a boombox that met all my criteria. If you decide to sell it, and it's working, let me know. I'd be interested.
Great story, I'm kind of torn on this one, it's not the nicest build but it seems to be very rare, I'll definately keep you in mind for it if something changes. The Sony-AIWA Relationship is interesting, check out the history of AIWA Thread, the blogger has some juicy nuggets of information since he worked for AIWA back then. Here's the SM on archive.org, 3.6 watts a channel, not too bad. https://archive.org/details/manual_CADW95_SM_AIWA/mode/2up
Awesome, thank you! If I remember correctly I bought it from Best for about $300. It's great you guys have a link to the owners manual!
I think that's exactly how it is. @Mister X I have a couple of catalogs from 1986 with the Ca-w90 Ca-R80 without CD but it has the same style as this one and then as in the catalog that I posted here 88-89... AIWA catalogue 1988-89 | Stereo2Go forums there are two options with CD Csd-w808 and Csd-xL25 but they are already with another style At the moment I don't have an '87 catalogue... excellent purchase
