Hello everybody,
Greetings from France.

I have just discovered this interesting forum.
I bought this AIWA CS M1 new about 25 years ago, and have enjoyed a lot listening to radio and recording the then new "free radios" while travelling. It has hardly aged, and the functions are OK, except the main belt, that has "melted".




I have been able to open the case and I think I can replace the belts myself. The main belts are very thin, 0,7mm, and the counter belt is even thinner, 0,5mm. So far I have sourced only 1mm thick replacement belts. Anyone knows about sourcing the belts I need ?

PS : the battery compartment lid is missing. Anyone has a spare one ?

welcome to this good place --
i think you have one of the grand prizes of the mini world , there --
looks great

Hello Picpic

Welcome to the nice forum!

And what a fantastic miniboombox you have there!



Look around, I have a few myself

Welcome PicPic. Glad to have you with us. That is a grea looking Mini you have there.

Is that larger belt the same size diameter wise as the belts your Aiwa requires? You can always trim the larger belt to fit.

But seriously that box is in absolutely wonderful shape.

Welcome,awesome mini!

That is a wonderful CS-M1 you have Picpic! Here is a source of belts I have delt with,they are great sellers. Good luck! Belts.

A personal favourite. Does yours have the strap/handle?

quote:

Originally posted by agentorange:
Does yours have the strap/handle?

Mine does

Thanks for your comments and help.
The weave-pattern steel handle never left the original box, I didn't like its look and it was much less practical than a real straight handle when travelling.
I will keep you updated with my progress replacing belts.

While looking for the box of the AIWA in the attic, I found this. I know it's out of topic, but I thought it might be of interest :

This is a SONY TC-MR2, a stereo microcassette deck designed for METAL tapes, contemporary of the AIWA. I have never seen it anywhere on the Internet :







The design is strange, not only because of its slanted front, but also because it was running botht on 4,5V DC or 3 "D" batteries, that seems odd for a such domestic-looking machine...

Verrry cool.

Now that is very cool,and very rare.

lovely microcassette recorder!

There was one on ebay a while ago!, but it went
to high for me

And there is one on the audioidiots wabpage!

Picpic, that is beyond cool.

If you're not bothered either way about it, sell it to Walkgirl, or someone else on here into the µcassettes.
Then they can make quality stereo recordings for their µb-boxes


...do you have the box, instructions, leads, etc.?

I would love that microcassette deck!

I needed a 0.7mm belt for my Aiwa walkman.
Have a look online - there should be someone who'll ship to France.
Or maybe try eBay - contact the seller to confirm the size you need before buying...

Sorry to be off-topic again, but I didn't expect such enthousiastic reactions !
So I guess you will enjoy another microcassette rarity : SANYO RD-XM1 deck again designed for metal tapes :





This little thing is quite heavy and doesn't miss the goodies of the big ones : two motors, large capstan flywheel, ic-driven keys, damped ejection door...

These pieces of micro-cassette equipment are beautiful! The cassette decks are fantastic, and the miniboombox is very good looking when 'folded up'.

That's so cool, I love the way the door opens upwards!

I did try to bid on a fisher version once, it went
really high in price

Maybe you can tape me a nice tape with
80s
songs when you have some time left!, then I can
play it in my micro's

What more little wonders you have hidden ??

quote:

Originally posted by Fuzzyduck:
That's so cool, I love the way the door opens upwards!

Hitachi 3D's are like that. Here are the twin decks of the 3D95.

quote:

Originally posted by Picpic:

Sorry to be off-topic again, but I didn't expect such enthousiastic reactions !
So I guess you will enjoy another microcassette rarity : SANYO RD-XM1 deck again designed for metal tapes...

Sweet Jesus, that's gorgeous

quote:

Originally posted by Retro Addict:

quote:

Originally posted by Fuzzyduck:
That's so cool, I love the way the door opens upwards!

Hitachi 3D's are like that...

yeah, I'd never thought of that. It's not that usual for the deck to open that way.
There are others from Sharp, Aiwa, Philips etc. that have similarly mounted top-loading decks.

awww its soo cute lol I like it man nice find