One of the most amazing things about the march of technology is the way quality goes up as prices go down. Only a few years ago, CD recorders were among the rarest and most expensive audio components. Now they're beginning to appear at budget prices.As of October 13, Aiwa is taking affordability to a new level with its XR-C3RW, a full-featured mini-system with a built-in CD-R/RW recorder for making digital recordings on blank CDs. Sporting a list price of only $700, the Aiwa system includes—in addition to the CD recorder—a three-CD changer that will play commercial CDs, CD-Rs, and CD-RWs; an AM/FM tuner; a dual auto-reverse full-logic cassette deck; and a full-function remote control.Akio Imanishi, Aiwa America's senior VP for marketing, said, "The introduction of the CD-R and CD-RW formats was a significant development, allowing consumers to make their own digital recordings on CDs. Now Aiwa makes this technology available to a much wider audience by offering it in a mini system, the most popular music-system configuration in America.''
With a nod toward the High End, Aiwa's XR-C3RW also takes the biamplification approach. A 30Wpc dedicated amplifier drives the system's woofers, while a separate 10Wpc amplifier powers the midrange and high-frequency drivers in each speaker. A graphic equalizer and versatile bass adjustments let users tailor the sound to their preferences.The disc recorder will work with either CD-R (write-once) or CD-RW (re-writable) audio discs. Rewritable discs are considerably more expensive than CD-Rs, but they allow the correction of mistakes made in recording. A digital synchronization feature allows recording from the system's three-CD changer, and a record-level adjustment gives users control over recording quality. The system also has an optical digital input for making recordings from an outboard device, such as a MiniDisc player. Aiwa's XR-C3RW digital audio system will be available in November.
