After the big disappointment of the latest cheap AIWA I bought, I still wanted to try one of those black plastic walkman's that most of my schoolmate had back in 90's. I bought this WM-FX43 from a local ad in my town. It is in nice conditions, some light wear signs but in full working order still with the original belt ! I see Hugo has the same one in his collection and it was even treated with a full photo session . A couple of questions: I paid it 35 EUR, is that too much ? on ebay is on sale for ~50 EUR but that is very likely overpriced. It has a very "plastic" feeling, it sort of squeaks when pressing buttons on the lid or just holding it. Is that normal ? Does it have known issues I should be aware of ? Does anyone have its service manual ? I could not find it and I would like to open it up to check the interior. There are no screws so I'm a bit frightened I might break something if I try to open it the wrong way. Sound quality is good, not excellent but good. The megabass is a bit weak, other Sony's have better EQ enhancements when used with earbuds. thanks bye Enrico
thanks for the review. I have a spceial feeling with the FX43 as I had it for some years when I was studying in the university. In the end I gave it as a gift to my girlfriend then as I remember. I liked it so much, but not as much as the WM-B39, The sound is not perfect at all but for me in those years it was good enough. 35 eur is a good price. Very good. Yes, it has a very plastic feeling. The antecessor, the B39 was not as plasticky.
Hi Enrico, congratulations! I remember that walkman from 1990_1991 I have always wanted to buy one, but I am still looking for it it is not easy to find one in good shape. I have also tbe previous model with digital tuner, the FX2085
I have been using it for some time and I would say treble response might be better: listening to a type II with dolby B results in a loss of high frequency compared to other walkmans. Still enjoyable, but less brighter than, say, a DD33 or a EX652. On the pro side, the transport is very stable with excellent W&F for a simple belt driven walkman. The radio too is very good ! the fx43 here in Italy seems to be a popular model, there are often auctions for that model. Mine has been surely used, but it has been treated with respect and beside minor wear signs on the outside, it is in very good conditions. As Hugo says in his reviews, despite being quite bulky and mighty-looking, it is indeed rather fragile and only claws are used to keep it together, no screws whatsoever !
I love this model, my father bought me one in the early '90s and I still have it, albeit a little beaten up. My sister had the FX33, which was less "hi-tech" (from a ten years old point of view) and I felt lucky to have buttons to play with In fact my profile picture shows my FX43 opened in my first (failed) attempt to bring it back to life. ps: cominciamo il censimento allora: siamo già in 2 in Italia
