Aiwa 50U

Almost nothing survives on the Aiwa 50U. No catalog entries, service manuals, period advertisements or reviews identify a standalone product with this model number. There is one possible source of confusion. Aiwa offered a cassette deck called the SD-L50U as part of its M-501 mini-system in the early 1980s. Aiwa's promotional spreads showed that deck alongside the SA-05OU preamplifier and other components. The taglines stressed compact size ("no more than thirteen inches high and nine inches wide") and gave a rated power output of "minimum RMS at 8 ohms, both channels driven from 20-20,000 Hz with no more than 0.1% THD." High Fidelity (November 1980, p.33) carried Aiwa's advertisements for the M-501 system, which included the SD-L50U. The 50U without the "SD-" prefix does not appear in any known documentation, and no specifications, production years or prices have been recorded for it. It may be a misremembered model reference, an internal code that never reached the market, or a model so obscure that all trace has been lost.