SHARP SD-FX20 “Auvi” 1-bit MD/MD Boombox
by Jeremy Tilston
Made in four colours – silver, black, red & orange (I have the orange version). From the official Sharp press release, 6th November 2004:
“Sharp is pleased to announce the release of the SD-FX20 ‘1-bit’ MD/CD system equipped with a 1-bit digital amplifier that achieves higher sound quality that is more faithful to the original sound with a dry battery/AC dual power supply that can be used outdoors.
This unit also supports dry battery power, which has been in high demand until now, making it possible to enjoy music even in places where there is no AC power supply, such as outdoors. In addition, a sound enhancer circuit that delivers a punchy and crisp sound and an 8W "1-bit digital amplifier" are installed to achieve convenience and high sound quality.
In addition, it is equipped with convenient functions such as "CD⇒MD 4x speed one-shot editing" and "My Track Edit" that allows you to specify the songs to be recorded even while listening to a CD, making it an MD/CD system that can be enjoyed in various indoor and outdoor scenes with a single unit.”
This unit weighs in at a whopping 4.8kg (without batteries), I’ve always run it off an AC supply (via a US-TRONIC TTR-750-JP-UK 240v-100v step down transformer) rather than batteries. The reason being it needs 10x LR14 1.5v batteries (plus 2x AA batteries for the internal clock) and I can imagine it would “eat” batteries, not cheap at 10 per time!
The User Manual not surprising for a Japanese domestic market product is only in Japanese so some guesswork and/or translating is required.
I’ve used it both indoors & outdoors, the volume control goes up to a maximum of 40, but anything above about 35 gives too much distortion. 25 is generally a comfortable volume indoors & 30 outdoors. I’ve played CDs as well as MDs and the volume needed is comparable for both sources. There is also a “surround sound” option which boosts the volume as well as adjusting the tone, and is beneficial when listening to rock & pop music. The maximum output of the unit is stated as 8 watt.
Stereo separation is audible despite the speakers being only 11” (275mm) apart and overall the sound I’d rate as “good” to “very good” and comparable with my other three boomboxes & bookshelf systems. Obviously its not comparable to the output from decks to amplifiers & speakers, but still quite impressive.
One feature of the unit that I particularly like, in addition to its striking looks, as the ‘retro’ toggle switches used for the main operations.
The unit is MDLP compatible and uses Sharp’s ATRAC 8, I’ve not used it for recording, but it does offer 4x speed CD to MD dubbing.
When I bought mine secondhand from Japan, it came with its original Sharp remote (RRMCGA017SJSA), but this isn’t essential for functionality.
Lastly, the unit does have a radio, offering World Band frequencies (FM 76.0 – 108.0 MHz), but again I’ve not used this function.
Overall it is a fun unit to use, indoors for short periods mainly just to give it a turn or outdoors on summer evenings whilst relaxing. It could be used to entertain at small parties & gatherings, but not larger events.