Vintage Sony Walkman

The WM-BF58 was a Sports Walkman also known as a personal radio cassette player with AM/FM bands manufactured by the Sony Corporation in Taiwan. The WM-AF58 was a similar model for the U.S. and Canadian markets. These units were a step up from the WM-B52 and WM-A52, which lacked the radio tuner circuitry. All of these Walkman's have the LA4570 pre/power amplifier IC, and the LA5523 servo control IC. However, the WM-BF58 / WM-AF58 models have additional circuitry for AM/FM reception consisting of CX20111 IC that performs front-end functions, and TA7370P, which is for the FM Multiplex.

The sound quality of this Walkman and those in the same series is very good. The audio power output is 15 mW, and with the right headphones, it can be extremely loud.

The WM-BF58 operates on two "AA" size batteries that produce 3 V for the circuitry. Using the Sony SUM-3 battery, you can expect it to last for four hours for cassette playback. The LCD clock on the cassette compartment door uses a watch battery that lasts for four years providing it receives 200 lx sunlight everyday for 8-hours.