Product Reviews

Rocking the Boat

Choosing a new stereo is now as easy as M-P-3

Jensen MDV6115 This one has it all! Play MP3, CDs and even DVDs! Video output can be plugged into most monitors, even many fish finders and chart plotters, while you listen to the movie in excellent stereo sound. Waterproof construction and sealed chassis make for no worries in a wet environment. With an adapter, you can also route Sirius Satellite radio through it later on.

MP3 has changed our lives.  No longer are we schlepping tapes, CDs, and all manner of equipment.  Nope.  Now we simply grab the itsy-bitsy iPOD and plug in to the stereo system wherever.

Last year, when our stereo on the boat went caput, we started looking for a replacement that we could install before our summer cruise.  A cruise without Buffet just isn’t even thinkable.  Alex thought we should go with a car stereo.  Lots of options.  I thought a marinized stereo would make more sense on a boat where the air will corrode anything not made for marine use.  I won.

We made the revered trip to West Marine (we know every store on the East Coast) and were disappointed.  Granted it was mid-summer and stocks were low, but the selection left much to be desired.  Where were the really cool systems.  So, we were not to find anything that day, which of course made Alex go back to the car stereo thing again.  I was not giving in.

Two weeks later and another pilgrimage to yet another West Marine put us square in front of a plethora of systems on SALE .  My second favorite four letter word (after FREE of course).  Jackpot.  Not only were they on sale, but the Jensen stereo with MP3 had a huge rebate. A system we would not have considered buying because of the cost, was suddenly within our price range. 

One serious question we had to answer was whether to buy a system that could do satellite stereo as well.  Given that we intend to cross oceans and the like, it could be a useful feature.  Then we thought, oh my golly gosh, we’ll always be connected by that civilized tether and we thought better of it.  Anything worth having will be in our MP3 collections.

But did they have it in stock.  Not here.  Not there.  Wait, way at the top of the special hidey stack in the corner was one just for us.  Yippee.  And away we took it.

Let me tell you.  We were thrilled with our choice.  We could hook up our iPOD, our crew’s iPODs, visitor’s iPODs, and everything else in between with one plug all throughout a weeklong cruise.  We could play a selection, play scramble, and play lists.  We could also throw in our backup MP3 disk and forget about it.  We could listen to a whole book on one MP3 disk.  It was soooooooooo cool.  A whole night without hassle.  And yet if we felt like it, we could plug in a specific CD, and when we had reception, get the news (ugh!).

JPort hooks your iPOD to any marine stereo

Jensen has also recently introduced a system specifically for the iPOD.  The JPort ($12) allows you to play your iPOD through your existing stereo system.  The JPort is a pre-wired cable and connectors that provide a direct interface between the iPOD’s headphone output and your stereo’s auxiliary input. It comes with a 9 foot cable for mounting in a convenient place.  Jensen JPORT Audio Adapter for MP3, iPod, or Satellite Radio Stereo Accessories works with any marine stereo with RCA Aux Inputs.

Add a couple of Jensen marine component speakers ($130) and you’ll really be rocking the boat. 

We have since bought a new stereo for our cottage as well and once again chose a unit with MP3 capability.  Now we don’t need duplicate collections.  Now all we need to bring is our trusty iPOD and leave a duplicate MP3 disk behind.  One disk, that’s it.  Thanks Apple.  Thanks to whoever invented MP3.  We are rockin’.

Yacht Rock – Spinal Tap for boaters? There is a genre of music that is favored by boaters because it’s frankly a relaxing set of tunes that are conducive to recalling a good day on the water with drink in hand.  In fact, we have a whole collection of sailing songs listed on our music pages.  Think Christopher Cross, Loggins and Messina , the Doobie brothers and of course, Jimmy Buffet.  For some reason, these guys wrote a lot of music about sailing, mostly in the late 70s.  It was a time of “smooth” music. Now think of all of that overlayed with bad wigs, pseudo nautical attire, sunset scenes, marina settings, and cruisers bars in a documentary short format.  Ring a bell?  Spinal Tap for boaters.  It’s a series of shorts – about 5 minutes.  The first few episodes can be downloaded at http://www.channel101.com.  But be patient, they are among their most downloaded videos.  The current release may be the last of the series…and then again, it may not. The first two episodes were hugely irreverent and very funny.  I started getting bored after that and the download stats second my opinion.  Caution, the language and behavior of the actors is quite “colorful”.   Don’t play these within earshot of anyone you don’t want overhearing. Channel 101 bills itself as “the unavoidable future of entertainment”.   They use MP4 format and you need Quicktime to play.  Choose play instead of download if you don’t want to clutter up your hard drive. Warning: this programming is not for children.

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