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Tape Trail: REVIEW: Aiwa XK-S9000 Tapedeck by Braxus

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REVIEW: Aiwa XK-S9000 Tapedeck

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Model: XK-S9000
Category: Tapedeck
Suggested Retail Price: $1100
Description: Top of the line Aiwa deck in 1992 feature Dolby S and D/A converters.
Manufacturer URL: Aiwa

Review by Braxus on July 04, 2008 at 22:46:42
IP Address: 65.38.43.55
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for the XK-S9000


I have had this deck for a few years since I bought it used, but didn't get it operational till recently. It needed new belts. Anyway I already had a Sony 909ES deck of which to compare to. Both decks were TOTL in their day. The 909 was designed similar to the Aiwa decks and built in the same factory I was told. Anyway I have been using the Aiwa for some months now and can comment on its sound. First I'll mention its features. It has a D/A converter which is 18 bit if you feel like recording directly from a CD player and having the Aiwa do the conversion. I don't use this feature since D/A converters have improved since then and any CD player today will have something better. This deck uses a motor to open and close the cassette door. You pop in a tape and if it senses it, the door will close by itself. The clamoing feature in the cassette housing crushes the tape a little to absorb resonances and keep the shell from moving. This is a 3 head 4 motor deck and yes it uses belts to drive everything. I counted 4 belts in this deck. When this deck was new it was going for $1600 Canadian. Far cry from the predesessor Aiwa which was the XK-009 and was only $1200. The Aiwa Xk-S9000 was known as the last best deck ever made. The last hoorah before tape decks started to go down hill and be taken over by CD burners. Someone commented that the designers of this deck must of burned the candle at both ends up to the 11th hour to make this the best deck possible. Based on the used price of this deck online, the upper range typically sells for $800-1000 used and as high as $1300 even. Not many decks go higher in price, not even the Naks or Tandbergs. The Tandberg 3014/ 3014A which is said to be the best cassette deck ever built period, doesn't even sell for as much. Back to the Aiwa. The deck has a record feature when using virgin blank tapes, to turn off the erase head which is supposed to lower the noise floor and give a better sound. Since I use the tape calibration features on this deck, I don't use that record feature. This deck has a fine bias control as well. HX-Pro can be turned off on this deck, but from what one reviewer said- this is one of the few decks that impliments HX-Pro properly and recommends leaving it turned on. The frequency response on this deck is rated with metal tapes to be 13HZ to 24Khz. Signal to noise with Dolby S is rated to 87db. And yes I love Dolby S. Much improved over Dolby C. But even Dolby C sounds excellent on this deck. I made a recording on a Sony Metal Master tape from an Elton John CD and the recording was so good, it blew me away tape can sound this good. This deck has excellent dynamics and the sound is warm with excellent low end and crisp highs. The low end is better on this deck then any other I've heard to date. Other decks just don't have it in the lows compared to this Aiwa. This deck has a rich sound with excellent depth to the notes. If the Aiwa sounds as good as this, I can't imagine what the Tandberg 3014 sounds like! This deck also uses the dual capstan setup with 3 heads. The heads in this deck are made by Sony and are amorphous- so the high end is better and the heads last longer. This deck also has a wood base on it to absorb external resonances and the deck itself weighs quite a bit. Its a heavy deck. The wood gloss side panels on this deck are very attractive as well. I wish I got this deck as new instead of my Sony. The tech who serviced this deck for me commented it was made with decent caps in it, so they don't wear out as soon as newer decks do. The tech was impressed with what this deck could do. Keep in mind the caps can still drift in these decks, so if your deck is not within spec, check the caps and such for out of tollerance performance. My deck needed some work to bring it back into spec again, but being a 16 year old deck with probably heavy use, it doesn't surprise me. If you can afford the used prices on these decks, and sometimes you come across one at a lower price- grab it. Only the top Naks like the ZX-9 will equal this deck or maybe surpass it. If you really must get the best deck ever made, look for the Tandberg 3014A. PS- this Aiwa comes with a remote- so ask for it if you buy a used one. By the way- I also have the predesessor to this Aiwa which is the XK-009 Excelia and that deck has nothing on the 9000. The 9000 is a better deck then the 009 is many ways including sound quality.


Product Weakness: Getting old and parts are limited today
Product Strengths: Excellent sound for a deck in this price range, good quality parts and construction


Associated Equipment for this Review:

Amplifier: Rotel 1070 Amp
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): Rotel 995 Pre
Sources (CDP/Turntable): Song SACD player
Speakers: B*W 602 S3
Cables/Interconnects: Mosnter Cable
Music Used (Genre/Selections): Rock
Type of Audition/Review: Product Owner




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Topic - REVIEW: Aiwa XK-S9000 Tapedeck - Braxus 22:46:42 07/4/08 ( 47)