@lichme The write up is understating the issue.
My parents and I have spent Black Friday shopping together for almost forty years, only missing when a friend died, when my mother was ill from chemo, and this year because I am sick of the year long advertisements: After Christmas black Friday, black Friday in ______ (insert every month of the year), black November, early black Friday, extended black Friday, and the Thanksgiving sales. We never went after the ridiculous sales that caused riots, just made a day of it to begin our Christmas season.
So now my mother and I started a new tradition: Small business Saturday. We had a wonderful day exploring all of the diverse shops in my home town.

@djslack would be interesting to see a mesh Bluetooth across the country or something like that.

@djslack hi, this is Alex from aiwa - unfortunately not, you can just pair one additional headphone.

@alex_aiwa right, and then one additional headphone to that one, and so on and so forth? Or does it prevent pairing an additional headphone to the one that is paired to another?

Seriously legit use for this: having more than two kids.

If the limit is two, period, then
/giphy shark tank I’m out

@djslack actually I’m not sure. Believe it or not we haven’t tried this. I think in theory you actually could daisy-chain in that fashion. The thing is, by the 3rd headphone the delay between the original headphone and the 3rd+ will be 500ms or maybe more. Probably fine for music as long as you don’t plan to sing along, but for video it will be kinda rough. Hope this helps!

@hems79 was looking for that too.

@hems79 I’m glad. I need to sleep.

@stinks refurbs… so I would think more like $20?

@Felton10 that would get me a slapo.

@OnionSoup It almost got me a kick in the ballos.

@Felton10 unintended effect?

@steingart paging @denboy

@steingart no no no no no… who you gonna believe me or them…

@steingart Funny thing is Sony did actually own Aiwa for a time

@steingart hi, this is Alex from aiwa, to be 100% clear we have no connection to Sony whatsoever. The “old” aiwa did, but we are a new and independent owner of the name, based in the US.

@alex_aiwa loud and clear, and I figured. I owned a bunch of Aiwa gear when I was a teenager and the (effective) pitch on canal street was “its got Sony guts”

@steingart In years past, that was probably true in some cases, and in the mid-2000s it was certainly true, after Sony shut down the Aiwa business proper, but continued using the name for a few years.

@fastharry I did as well. My only regret was not purchasing 2 pairs. I’m looking to purchase some HiFiMan HE-400i for home office and work office use, but for travel or mobile listening, the bang for buck factor is almost infinite with the mPulses.

@fastharry
“That was the old MEH…Think those days are long over…” LOL

That was 5 months ago.
What are you, nineteen?

@fastharry I bought the mpulse as well. Great sound but they do echo on phone calls. Not dropping the big bucks today either.

@phendrick actually, it was 5 months and a year ago genius…

@thismyusername That might be the exact same one… I don’t think I’ve seen it since about 2002

@Superllama7 @thismyusername likewise but I still have the speakers hanging in my shop and use them to this day…

@Superllama7 +1. i had the 5 cd version of that one, as well as a neat double deck tape machine from few years earlier

@thismyusername … Haa bought that one form my inlaws back in 2002 … they still have it… and still can’t work the remote right…!!!

@Oneroundrobb nice… not only do they do aptx, aptxHD, and aac… but they also have the sweet sweet LDAC.

@bbf According to ReviewMeta, half the reviews are astroturf (paid/fake). https://reviewmeta.com/amazon/B07FFFT8G3

@bbf hey there, I’m Alex and I work at aiwa. I know the reviews are unusually good, but I can assure you that the reviews are not paid for or otherwise less than genuine. If you check out our other main product the exos-9 you’ll see a similar pattern, but on a larger scale. While it is conceivable that we could have bought that many fake reviews over the span of years, I hope you’ll consider the simpler explanation that our products are actually that good.

@gertiestn I like it.

@sammydog01 You’re wrong. That is all. (Can you tell how pissed I am?)

@gertiestn
/giphy seriously pissed?

@sammydog01 I must admit I LOL’d. To explain to the universe, I’m a Lesbian and don’t often feel the need to shout it from the rooftop, but your cartoon hit home in a somewhat humorous way. Thankee.

@kbaum17 this is just a bought brand name. just like Polaroid.

at the very best this is shade of gray practice since they keep the same logo to make people think this is some OG audio company.

@kbaum17 @username hi, this is Alex from aiwa. You’re right that we aren’t the original aiwa, but we are working very hard to live up to the expectations that people have for gear carrying the aiwa name. While most manufacturers just license (read: rent) a name, we bought it outright. This means we’re very interested in actually improving the reputation of the brand.

@PooltoyWolf Biocellulose cones is the fancy schmancy audiophile term for “paper cones”.

They were widely used in speakers before plastic ones became more popular.

The fact that paper cones are still used in “Expensive High-End” home stereo speakers doesn’t support your conclusion that it “actually isn’t snake oil” because IMHO, “Expensive High-End” audio DEPENDS on selling snake oil to justify their prices.

@bbf Might wanna do some research there, Sir. There is a world of difference between simple paper pulp cones (which arguably aren’t terrible themselves) and biocellulose proper. I have seen more than my fair share of phony BS in this industry (prismatic stickers making your CDs sound better, anyone??) but biocellulose isn’t one of these. I’m also referring to vintage equipment made before 1990 for most of this stuff…I don’t buy into modern gear at the prices most companies want for it.

@PooltoyWolf Actually, from what I’ve heard and read, there is no general disadvantage nor advantage to “paper” cones vs. advanced “biocellulose” cones nor {insert coating here} on plastic cones.

Wonder where the “biocellulose” comes from, oh, the same source that paper comes from: some plant fibres ground up and processed. The properties of the cellulose that makes paper cones good are the same that make “biocellulose” cones good.

It’s basically more of a manufacturing and/or marketing bullshit choice.

@bbf If you dig deeper than the surface, you will see that biocellulose, or microbial cellulose, is actually not plant-based, and is fundamentally different from ‘normal’ cellulose. I understand the concept of pumped-up marketing BS, but I genuinely believe you are mistaken here. -shrug-

@stolicat Make sure you read the bullets carefully… especially #4

@troy Thanks for pointing that out, still, budget, and now its tomorrow …

@djslack It’s a fancy way to say that the drivers user “paper” cones. (Which isn’t an advantage, nor a disadvantage, really) It just shows the length that the purchasers of the AIWA name will go to to BS about their product.

@bbf @djslack hi, I’m Alex and I work at aiwa. this was my initial reaction to the term as well, but it turns out that biocellulose is not the same as paper made from plant matter. The cellulose fibers are actually produced by bacteria, which as I understand it are much smaller and finer than the ones you get from trees. The end result is that the cone is lighter and stiffer than a “normal” paper cone, which is mechanically favorable for audio. It’s not a new technology but it is unusual in this class of headphone.

@alex_aiwa @bbf @djslack Alex is right on this. There have been a few very highly regarded IEM earphones that have used this in the past. I owned some Vsonics that used it and they sounded great.
Here’s an article about it.
It appears from the link that whatever material you have left over in the manufacturing process you can eat for dessert

@username This Joe SpinDoctor?
/youtube two princes

@username Actually, Aiwa has been building a reputation of “double the hardware for your dollar” – after buying the Aiwa EXOS-9 due to the reviews they’re getting, I believe it. The sound is insane! https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=aiwa

@troy that’s cool and all,

but meh.

@dcm714 Agreed, these need to be priced way less, especially for refurbs. Like $40 to $60. Meh, you paid too much for these!

@RedOak hey, I’m Alex and I work at aiwa. Although the scenario you’re describing is depressingly common, we’re actually reviving the brand with the aim of maintaining and improving its reputation rather than cashing in on its former glory. Why are we different? We actually own the name, as opposed to many similar situations in which the manufacturer only licenses the name. Owners take care of their property, renters may not be relied upon to do so. Although we’re not the original Japanese company, we’re actually very wary of launching any product that’s unworthy of the name.

@alex_aiwa @RedOak … It would be good to see you pick the pieces up and run with it… too many companies - brands disappear… but that’s the nature of things… Good Luck to you and Alex… If I did not have 5 other sets… these sound decent …

@alex_aiwa
Alexa,

It certainly will be an uphill battle since the folks for whom “AIWA” still maintains some goodwill are also aware the original brand disappeared.

The new AIWA has the challenge of convincing customers, “we’re the new AIWA but just as good or better than the original AIWA.”

At least you’re starting with a solid reputation unlike the shill brands that have sold their quality-soul, like Polaroid & RCA.

Good luck with rebirthing the brand, sincerely.

@RedOak I appreciate that, I understand that brand revivals generate a lot of skepticism, which is unfortunately often quite justified. We try to be very open about who we are and what the situation is, for many reasons - especially because being honest is going to go a lot better than trying to pretend. I mean, imagine this comment section if we really were faking…! We are trying to uphold what the brand means, but we don’t pretend to be there original company even in the slightest.

All we can ask for is a fair shake for the product itself, and we do have a pretty generous return policy, so maybe someday you’ll have a reason to check out some of our gear, it’s a fairly low risk proposition most of the time. Thanks!

“we don’t pretend to be there original company”
@alex_aiwa
why then use original logo, original font etc? or buy that trademark in the first place.

@username A fair question. We see it as a “carrying the torch” situation rather than a “imposter” situation. Why call the new character “Dr. Who” when they are clearly not the same person as the last one?

@DaveInSoCal It was either a Walkman or an Aiwa - Sony’s trademark protection says it can’t be both.

@jetkins I think Sony owned Aiwa at the time, so they can go ahead and sue themselves.

@DaveInSoCal @jetkins Knowing them, they probably will.

@thumperchick @narfcake what is this. For support?

@fshoemak Hello! You’ll definitely want to send that in to https://meh.com/support so we can match you to your open case.

I’ll keep an eye out for your message.

@medz thanks for the tag!