Sony's SRF-40W, Original FM Stereo Walkman...WOW!

I'm a big radio fan and small receivers with super sensitivity and good power to drive good phones nowadays are very hard to find.

Awhile back someone offered one of these original Sony SRF-40W FM Stereo Walkman's for sale here. I jumped on it and was the first to reply to the ad but for some reason or another, it was sold to another forumite.

I forgot about it and a few weeks later while searching Eboyohboy, I came across an auction for another one from the original owner. I put a bid in and got it even cheaper than the one went for here, (including shipping), and it is MINT!

All I can say is; "They don't make 'em like they used to!" This thing blows away any portable FM radio I've ever tried. I live in a very rural area and this will pull in stations from almost 1,000 miles away! The geared tuning is spot on and the amp will run ANY phones, low impedence or not! Yes, it takes 3 AA cells and doesn't run as long as the newer models of today but with it's power, it's a great trade-off. Heck, nowadays, that's what the newer, rechargeable NiMH's are made for!

The build quality puts anything made in the last 20 years to shame and this thing is made from plastic! It even came with the neat original leather cover/case. All in all, if you like FM stereo radio like I do, try and find one of these bad boys. It will blow anything you've ever tried away!

I used to have this one. The cute blue pocket radio with orange knob ad belt clip. Two headphone outputs, seperate left-right volume control. The output is very strong. I believe it's the first FM pocket radio from Sony.

That's the one NEO! It's from 1981. I found it amusing that Sony put two sets of headphone jacks, (so you could share), and a separate volume control for each channel on these early models. The one advantage to two phone jacks is if one wears out, you have a spare!

Sony did put dual headphone jacks on many earlier walkmans. Which means that they all have strong output enought to drive 2 headphones at the same time. No wonder wht SRF-40W takes 3 AA. I would prefer if they put seperate volume control for each headphone jack on it.