Aiwa CS 50 (1977)
The Aiwa CS 50 was Aiwa's first boombox. Hi-Fi Engine calls it exactly that, adding that it was "not for the faint of heart" and "a heavy beast" that carried a hefty price tag and wore the Aiwa logo proudly. Introduced in 1977, it was a portable stereo cassette recorder with an FM/MW/LW tuner. Both hifi-wiki and Katalog HiFi stress that it was unusually heavy and large, and hifi-wiki notes that it was almost impossible to find a proper place for it in a flat. It came with a carrying handle.
The documented specs come almost entirely from Katalog HiFi. The CS 50 used a two-way speaker system — two 3-inch woofers and two 2-inch tweeters, crossed over at 2 kHz — and ran on six D-size batteries. The cassette mechanism delivered 40 Hz–14 kHz response at 4.75 cm/s with 0.3% wow and flutter and 45 dB signal-to-noise. The radio side offered 1.8 µV FM sensitivity and 26 dB selectivity. Audio-Collection (1972, p.51) ran a general survey of cassette machines around this era, noting that the format's sealed tape housing made it more compact and physically durable than records or open reels — context that helps explain why a portable like the CS 50 made sense at the time, even if this particular example took "portable" rather literally.
Sources disagree sharply on power output. Katalog HiFi lists 3 W, while hifi-wiki's summary box says 60 W. Neither figure is stated as definitive here, since the gap is too wide to reconcile from the available material. Katalog HiFi also lists batteries while hifi-wiki implies a mains-only design. Both claims are recorded here without resolution.
Known specs:
- Type: Portable stereo radio cassette recorder ("boombox")
- Radio: FM/MW/LW; telescopic antenna
- Speakers: 2 × 3" woofers + 2 × 2" tweeters, 2 kHz crossover
- Cassette: 4-track, 4.75 cm/s, 40 Hz–14 kHz, 0.3% wow/flutter, 45 dB S/N, 120 µs EQ
- Batteries: 6 × D size (per Katalog HiFi)
- Carrying handle; described as unusually heavy and large
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