The need for the latest sexy electronic gadgets to speak on, listen to and connect with won’t wane during the lazy days of summer. In fact, with increasing outdoor appearances,
now it’s more important than ever to be on the ball with the best equipment possible to blast your favourite tunes at the beach or block out the noise while you’re cutting the grass. This issue’s Connoisseur Series will ensure you’re the envy of the block.

THE STORY

Stand around at the community club on a Saturday afternoon and drag out a hot new cellphone, sexy MP3 player, GPS unit, or ultra light laptop and watch the guys line up to have a look. We love our electronic toys–from killer car stereos and in-car video systems to GPS chips in our digital cameras and 5,000 tunes at our finger tips, its all about the electronic bling.

But if you want the very best, the Connoisseur Series is your road map to all that is pocket sized, portable, and drool-worthy. Get out the platinum card boys and let’s get busy.

Car audio is hardly new; it all started back in the 1930s when tube radios got installed in Studebakers in Germany. By the 1950s AM radio blared the latest DJs spinning discs by Little Richard over burgers and milkshakes at the drive-in. In the 1970s FM replaced AM and local legends like Howard Mandshein played full sides of classic albums like Pink Floyd’s Meddle on 92 CITI FM and we dropped out and turned on.

The 1980s cut the electrical umbilical cord as the cassette player became the Sony Walkman. We bought them by the ton, making Winnipeg’s Albert Cohen, the visionary who picked up the Sony distributorship in 1956, a very happy man.

In 2001, the world changed as Apple introduced its first iPod. I remember the exact moment I saw my first iPod when a local print designer showed up at a Manitoba Audio Recording Industry Association board meeting with his. The meeting immediately stopped as we all took our turn listening slack jawed to this innovation.

Since then it’s been a meteoric rise for all things portable.

Mobile entertainment is the new buzz word for car audio because no longer is it restricted to cars. Nick Serino at Advance Electronics offered that he has been selling more high-end audio systems for boats over the last few years that are splash and corrosion resistant. He has found makers like Alpine are switching some of their head units to accept only the digital sources from iPods and MP3 players, getting away from the CD transport.

While enthusiastic about these innovations, he is quick to remind us that some digital sources from iPods and MP3 players lack the information to provide the very best in sound quality and encourages those interested to audition high-end systems with the best source materials they can get.

Consumers are becoming more sophisticated, too, looking for detail and dimension in their music rather than just a huge bottom end. High-end manufacturers like France’s Focal, American JL Audio and Italy’s Audison are all producing mobile audio that rivals the very best home systems.

Kenwood and Garmin have collaborated to produce units that also provide navigation and audio options, keeping the tunes coming as you navigate those mountain roads.

Laptop computers keep shedding pounds and adding features. Apple’s Macbook Air is thin enough to fit in an envelope but Sony, Dell, HP, Acer and Lenovo all have what are now called mini laptops. These are the perfect travelling companion on an airplane or as a babysitter for the kids on those long road trips and are able to carry huge audio and video files.

MP3 players have been dominated by iPods, and Apple’s gorgeous iPod Touch is still at the top of the heap. Microsoft’s third generation Zune and Samsung’s P3 are getting good reviews, while others like Sony, Arochos, Cowon and Creative Labs struggle to find their niche.

We all know that the ear buds that come with our favourite MP3 player are rarely high fidelity. Moving up to the elite in-ear models like Shure’s SE530 with separate tweeter and dual woofers or Ultimate Ears Triple.fi 10 Pro’s you’ll fork over half a grand or more for sound this great.

Over-the-ear headphones like the Bose Quiet Comfort 3, Grado GS 1000i, Sennhieser’s HD 800, or the Denon AH-D7000 are the sports cars of the audio world.

But the holy grail of portable audio is complete integration. Manufacturers are scrambling to build the perfect all-in-one device that includes a cellphone, audio and video player, gaming platform, GPS unit, digital camera, portable computing, email, audio books and web surfing all in a tiny package that elegantly fits into our lives.

Apple is leading the race currently with the wonderful iPhone, but RIM, Sony and others are hot on their trail. Take the BlackBerry Storm for example. Audiophiles can look forward to many new devices that push the frontiers of this integration and join the quest for the Holy Grail.

TAKE IT OUTSIDE

Move over lawn mower, here’s all you’ll need for outdoor gear this summer.

Clockwise from top left:
M1 stereo speakers by Blueant, $169.99, Brian Reimer Audio, 1053 St. Mary’s Ave, 256-7724; iPod Nano, 16 GB, $229, Advance Electronics, 1300 Portage Ave, 786-6541; SE530 earbuds by Shure, $559.99, Brian Reimer Audio; BlackBerry Storm, from $249.99, MTS mobility, www.mts.ca; Horizon Duo-i by Boston, $229, Advance Electronics; MX 70 VC Sport earbuds by Sennheiser, $69.95, Brian Reimer Audio; Prestige series SR325 earphones by Grado, $300, Advance Electronics.

Photography by Grajewski Fotograph Inc.