REVIEW
STRAP
AV MIDI SYSTEM
HEAD
AIWA Z-D9100M
INTRO
It’s big, it’s bold, and you can even sing
along with it, it’s the very unusual Aiwa Z-D9100 AV midi-system...
COPY
You have to hand it to Aiwa, who else but
Sony’s second cousin (twice removed) would think of putting together an AV
system, with a 3-CD autochanger, Karaoke facility, Dolby Pro Logic decoder,
digital sound processor and top it off with a turntable? This curious blend of
technologies covers just about every home entertainment eventuality, they’ve
even got a matching stereo televideo if you’re interested, though curiously the
otherwise very impressive VX-S140 doesn’t have NICAM sound, but we digress....
The Z-D9100 is a stack of six midi-sized
components, plus a set of five speakers, all for less than £900. All of the
boxes are designed to work with one another and connect to the amplifier/processor
by idiot-proof colour-coded ribbon cables. The cheap and quite cheerful
automatic turntable is on the top of the pile. Below that there’s the 3-band
tuner with 10 channel pre-sets on each band. The tuner also houses the clock
and timers which have a variety of functions, including programmable sleep and
wake-up modes. Underneath that is the graphic equaliser, which resembles
Blackpool illuminations when it gets going. Aiwa have gone right over the top
with this one; the fluorescent display panels have a variety of more or less
conventional spectrum analyser options, but they can be made to play all kinds
of other winky-light tricks that range from mildly amusing to downright silly.
The main amplifier is next, it’s a beefy
multi channel design pumping 75 watts into each of the two fancy-looking stereo
loudspeakers, 25 watts into the magnetically-shielded centre channel speaker
and 2 x12.5 watts to the two surround speakers. The amp is the centre of
operations, controlling and switching all of the other components, as well
generating a bunch of digital effects, Dolby Pro Logic processing, controlling
speaker balance and half a dozen other housekeeping functions. The effects
include the usual spatial simulations, with controlled amount of reverberation
and delay added to the surround channels, for disco, hall, movie, live, church
and arena acoustic ‘environments’. It also has an interesting ‘Karaoke’ mode
that filters out vocals, so you and a friend can join in with a sing-song (with
optional microphones).
The CD autochanger is second from bottom, the
rotary carousel holds three discs, these can be programmed to play in sequence,
in random order, or via a 20- track memory which operates across any or all discs
loaded in the machine. Other useful facilities include simultaneous disc play
and change, synchronised and auto-edit recording, and a facility Aiwa call AI
editing, where tracks to be recorded are allocated according to the length of tape
used.
Finally, at the bottom there’s the twin
auto-reverse cassette decks, with recording on deck B. The decks have Dolby B
and C noise reduction and automatic tape bias selection. It has continuous
recording and playback modes, syncro editing, blank skip, track search and it
sounds pretty good too....
PERFORMANCE
Good, bad and indifferent just about sums it
up. The bad bit is the turntable, it’s not very well insulated against
mechanical vibration, the arm skitters around with the slightest provocation
and we’d forgotten just how noisy and scratchy some records can sound on cheapo
turntables. Perhaps we’ve been spoilt by the ruggedness and convenience of CD
but if you’ve got to have a record player on a hi-fi system at least make it
decent one... Indifferent is the kindest thing we can think of to can say about
the digital signal processor and flashy graphic equaliser. You can mess around
with it all day and still not improve on the flat, untainted settings. Most of the effects are a bit heavy-handed,
and the whole stack rumbles and grumbles menacingly if it’s knocked or bumped.
In fact it’s not a good idea to play records with the more exotic DSP spatial
effects switched in, as it can generate some odd feedback effects. The good
parts are everything else. The tape deck and tuner are both capable designs,
the Dolby decoder is very effective, the amplifier is a real smoothie and in
spite of their over-fussy looks, the main speakers produce a good punchy sound.
The Pro Logic decoder does an excellent job
of separating out the more subtle effects but it’s equally good at locating
individual sounds or effects and is just as happy with the big-buck bockbusters
as less energetic movies.
Despite trying to be a Jack of all Trades,
the Z-D9100 gels together reasonably well, with the usual proviso that it is
the master of none. It’s at its best with AV material, audio-only sources like
the CD tape deck and tuner are fine but it’s not going to give serious and
top-end system makers any sleepless nights. It’s biggest selling point, though,
is the price, when all said and done where else are you gong to find a
reasonably competent sounding AV system, with a turntable Dolby Pro Logic and the
all-important karaoke facility for less than £900?
DATA BOX
Aiwa Z-D9100M
Price - £900
Features - Dolby Pro-Logic AV midi system,
including five speakers. Comprises turntable, twin cassette deck, 3-CD
autochanger, graphic equaliser, amplifier and digital signal processor.
12-mode equaliser (rock, pop, jazz,
classic, headphone, car, etc.). 12 mode DSP (disco, hall, movie, live, church,
arena etc. ) Dolby Pro Logic (phantom, normal 3-channel logic), clock, sleep
timer, daily timer. Karaoke mixing/vocal fader
Dimensions -- 630(h) x 330(d) x 360(w) mm (complete
stack)
Weight -- circa 18kg
Pros -- An agreeable, well-rounded sound, capable
Dolby performer, price
Cons -- A bit of a lump, gimmicky displays,
touchy DSP and turntable
RATINGS
Performance ****
Features ****
Value for money ****
Aiwa Telephone 081-897 7000
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Ó R. Maybury 1994 2909
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