Sony Walkman WM-F18 Portable Cassette Player

I finally got hold of the Sony WM-F18 that I ordered during the Black Friday sale (at 20% off!) yesterday (had to have it shipped to the Philippines, thus the lag time). First thing I noticed was the packaging, which was cute but made of thin carton (it reminded me of a rice meal takeout box). Wish it was thicker and sturdier so I can use it to store the player. When I opened the box, the items were neatly packed inside, despite not having compartments and having been shifted during transport (they were adhered to the box using jelly-like blobs). Aside from the cassette player, Retrospekt included a lo-fi 80s-style earphones with orange foam (and a pair of black foam as spare), a bonus cassette (I got a Natalie Coleman single), batteries (already installed in the unit), and a strap for the player (this was a pleasant surprise as I didn’t see one in the product page photo in the website). The unit itself is gorgeous! There were some minor scruffs at the back, but everything else looked almost pristine, like it was a new unit. I love the bulk and heft of the unit—it’s not super portable, but it complemented the retro look of player. I popped in Madonna’s The Immaculate Collection and plugged in my Bowers & Wilkins PX cans. It sounded soooo good! There was good balance and dynamics to the sound. I also hooked it up to my Onko TX-8270 receiver that’s connected to a pair of floorstanding B&W 603 speakers. Again, excellent sound! All other functions work—reverse, fast-fowrard, equalizer, AM/FM radio tuning, autorverse. My only minor qualm would be that it doesn’t automatically stop when it reaches the end of one side of the tape (not sure if this model doesn’t really have the capability), but it’s not something that would ruin the experience for me. I posted the same photo on my Facebook and Twitter walls and people were amazed that I have a good-looking and working Walkman cassette player from 1986! Hoping to enjoy this for many years to come! For a 34 year-old model, Retrospekt did an awesome job in refurbishing it to make it work fantastically! I now browse the Retrospekt website on a daily basis to see if they have new refurbished models on sale. I’d be definitely buying again in the future!