Here are a bunch of similar Aiwas from the 90s, all sharing the same transport, head and similar boards. They are rather slim (but not as slim as some 90s Sonys), logic controlled and were rather popular in asia it seems...

Here I have 6 of them, of which 2 are not in working condition. I have 2 PX units, 2 RX units, and 2 JX units, of which I have 2 similar copies of some. There may be one more from the parts bin.

Here's a shot of them with their doors open, showing different sticker designs.

They use this transport. This one is from the parts bin.

Some feature preset equalizers, proudly proclaimed by the reel table sticker.

Up first is a JX769. This one has the tuner board on the door. Actually rather nice looking, with soft touch plastic buttons on the door. Sound quality is rather average, but it's a pretty unit. Similar board layout to the JX849. Auto Reverse Recording, and proudly states MADE IN JAPAN on the front.

This one is a RX-748. Sadly this one was cannibalized for parts, so it no longer works.

RX648. This one received some parts from the 748 above. It is the radio/playback only model of the 649 which we will see later. Sounds more or less identical to the 769.

Here's the JX649. Identical to the unit above except with the addition of recording. For your extra money you also got a metal door, plastic buttons, a shiny paint job, as well as a remote. Just re-capped it recently. A little better sounding than the units above. While these are not the most pretty Walkmans ever made, they are more rugged- It's a little scary to bring my JX505/DC2 out in fear of scratching the letter work.

This is a PX347. Playback only. Has much less features than all the ones above but it sounds remarkably better. This one is part of a huge series of 90s PX Aiwas that came in many colors. One of the sweetest sounding, although it does not sound as good as the 505. Re-capped it recently as well. This was actually the first logic controlled Walkman I found. And it was $2. Made locally in Singapore.

Here is its bigger brother, a PX 447. Absolutely identical, which is puzzling as it has more EQ presets. On closer inspection , the PX347 actually has this capability of the 4 eq preset- it just lacked the four way switch and a few small surface mounted components! Very cheeky (Looks at intel). This is a 20th anniversary Singapore model in a very nice metallic green, and is the only one I've ever seen. Aiwa seems to like their anniversary models celebrating everything!

Sadly, when I found this one, the battery leakage has pretty much destroyed the board. I'm hoping to find another 447 to swap the board, because this is a really nice slim unit.

Also made in Singapore.

All in all, I like these 90s Aiwas. Quite simple to work on. Sadly these are not the most desirable machines (only the multicolored PX series seem to be collected by some here).

On the transport itself, it is quite finicky when it comes to Auto-Reverse, if the pinch roller is not perfect it will not go past the leader. Repeat function is utterly useless. Some have plastic instead of brass flywheels, a cost cutting measure. Sound quality on these machines are average to good, the simpler machines sounded better.

An interesting note is the belts tend to survive very well on these units.

I like this write up with pictures.  

Don't have any Aiwa's, have mostly Sony's similar to these in shape/contruction-age perhaps.

When you say 'locally' - Do you live in Singapore?

Bub,

Good write up. Great photos. Nice collection.

Not my "cup of tea", but I am really glad that you like them - at least that way there is somebody saving these from the rubbish bin.

Great collection bub,

and thanks for the pictures/ info. Aiwa certainly packed a host of features into it's units!

Here are some more early 90s Aiwas, I think these came before the logic controlled units in the first post. This is the RX610 series, many Aiwas from this era share the same mechanism. Indeed, between many models the boards are identical and interchangeable.

One unique feature is that these are "semi logic" controlled. Play/Stop/Autoreverse is logic controlled by use of switches and a single solenoid. REW/FF is operated by a mechanical slider and is operated separately from Play/Stop. Logic control seems to be controlled mostly mechanically with basic logic with no microprocessor. Most actions (direction,play,stop) are controlled by solenoid timing it seems.

This odd combination means that there is no autostop for FF/REW, which is unusual. It seems like an afterthought and detracts from its appeal. On the plus side, if your board works, I think that these are very rugged and sturdy. Unlike later Aiwa machines, these still kept the Namiki motors from the 80s Aiwas.

This is an RX628. I actually have 2 of these units now. It is identical to the RX610 and RX2005. The T95 you see below is also absolutely identical except that it has a analog radio instead.

I have only got the 2 RX628s to work, the other boards are dead due to excessive capacitor leakage. But once your board works and all the capacitors and belt have been replaced, these can be very reliable units. They have Hyperbolic heads, similar to the HX Amorphous ones seen in older high-end Aiwas.

The heads are fixed but the Azimuth is very good. No wow and flutter on both units. I find them much more reliable than the later full logic Aiwas like the ones in the first post. (And, actually, they sound better than all of them, with the exception of the PX347.)

Sound quality is not as good as earlier high end Aiwas like the 505, and the styling looks incredibly dated by today's standards. But despite the strange control design, the toughness of these makes them great daily units.

The paintwork on the plastic RX628s are slightly worn/discolored by sitting in the leather pouches they came with for years- but despite so, the paint is still very tough and scratch proof, unlike some Aiwas like the 505/707 where the letterwork can be easily scratched off.

One interesting thing I found out is that both my Aiwa RX628s were made on the same day- the serial numbers are P-A37190132 and P-A37190118- only 14 units away from each other! Judging by the fact that the exterior wear patterns are very similar, they must have had very similar lives before I ended up with them.

I just figured one thing... same transport you said and with a closer look , i can see 3 pins missing from the motor , my JX849 have the 7 pins. Missing solenoid did i say ,but may be not , do players have only one ??? Recorders seems to have 2 ,that's why i can see a little difference in the mechanics.

By the way , just have received a nice little unit from Colin ,a PX447 and it sounds very good.Not as sexy as the slimest PX747 featuring the AMTS system, full metal casing, advanced remote and more... ,they sound pretty close,may be a little better for the 747 but that's too soon to tell. Yet an excellent sounding unit , really enjoyable.

Glad to hear you enjoy your 447, I like my 347 as well. As for the motor pins,I believe some may use different revisions/models of motors.

Yes it's a good quality walkman ,musically talking of course ,it has the belt problem as many of them so only forward pb for now ,but that's good to see what Aiwa did to cut costs , little things here and there but sound remains very good. About the motor,i still wonder why all those pins ??? Do you think there's electronic parts in it ? It's just like the motor would control everything ,speeds ,directions... I was more likely used to two pins motor.Did you ever dismantled one ?

Yes I have dismantled them (flat disc type) to swap parts over before, I believe the different number of pins is due to different motor solenoid design.

You mean you got inside ? What was there inside ??? What are all those pins doing ?

A regular PX447

My favourite ! The sexy PX747 !!! Full metal casing ,LCD remote control ,AMTS...

edit: ok it's rather simple but sounds really good ,ok there's no BBE or dolby C but it's a nice looking unit.

Side by side comparison with its cousin the JX849

Glad to see you like these. Are those dents I spot?

Yes unfortunatelly ,but i got it for like 5€ without shipping and it works pretty well even with a hard to run(but quality) TDK tape.

I suppose a good thing about these less desirable machines is that they do not command high prices.