Best Gifts of 2020: Home For The Holidays

The new Sony WH1000XM4 sound absolutely incredible. They're over-ear, closed-back and wireless, and extremely comfortable. For those working or schooling from home, the noise-cancelling on these will completely drown out any distractions around you and fully immerse you in what you're listening to - including hi-resolution audio up to 24bit/96kHz. The WH1000XM4 battery life lasts around 30 hours with noise-cancelling switched on, or around 38 hours with the tech switched off. A 10-minute quick-charge will give you five hours of playtime and Wearing Detection extends battery life even further by automatically pausing the music when you take them off. And, because they're so lightweight and mushy in all the right spots with the larger ear cup design, you don't get the dreaded "headphone fatigue", aka sore ears or headband compression.

Some cool add-ons: The WH1000XM4 have a host of "smarter" technology built-in that can better tune and optimize for adaptive sound control and the touch-sensitive buttons and voice control (Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant) are as good as it gets.

Reg Price:   $349.99

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The Pro-Ject Debut Carbon Evolution, or EVO as it's also referred to as, is hands down our best-selling turntable, and for good reason. For a mid-range price point, this turntable is a solid choice for even the most discerning record collector, but also for someone just starting their collection. The Debut Carbon Evolution includes a one-piece carbon-fiber tonearm, premium gold-plated RCA jacks, and a hinged adjustable dust cover. The EVO includes super stable, height adjustable and damped aluminium feet and has electronic speed selection via a simple rocker switch on the bottom. With 9 - yes NINE! - color and finish options, you'd be hard-pressed not to find a variation to match just about anyone's style and decor.

For those that know their tech and what makes a good turntable, the EVO includes a suspension system borrowed from the higher-end X1 and a hefty aluminum platter, weighing in at about 3.7-pounds. It also includes a factory-mounted Sumiko Rainier phono cartridge (a $150 value) for an easy set up. 

Reg Price:   $499.99

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Is there an Xbox or Playstation gamer on your holiday list? Gift them the Penrose - a headset designed with console gaming in mind - and really blow them away this season. Seriously, they won't know what hit them. With the Penrose, Audeze is serving up premium, audiophile-level sound in a wireless gaming headset. It's lightweight and the ear cups are generously sized and padded, which is a must for long gaming sessions. 

As for the audio and connectivity: Audeze’s high-end patented planar magnetic driver technology increases dynamic range, clarity, and detail, while reducing distortion to “near zero.” Nothing new from Audeze, but it makes the audio and immersive experience of these headphones pure magic. In terms of convenience, dual connectivity lets you connect wirelessly via the USB dongle and Bluetooth at the same time so you can connect through your console and an additional device like your phone. This lets you take calls while gaming or participate in gaming chats outside of your console. The Penrose microphone is “broadcast quality,” developed in partnership with mic experts Shure, so you'll certainly come through loud and clear!

Reg Price:   $299.99

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The Audioengine A1 delivers high-quality stereo sound - wired or wirelessly - in a compact package and at a super affordable price point. It's that simple. These are the perfect speakers for desktop computer audio or a small-footprint countertop stereo system. And while these speakers might be small in size, they produce astonishingly big sound, thanks to their 2.75" aramid-fiber woofers and 3/4" silk-dome tweeters powered by built-in class-D amplifiers that deliver 30W of peak power per channel.

The A1 implements the latest Bluetooth 5.0 standard and supports the high-quality aptX and AAC codecs for superior sound, so you can play music from your phone or device. Or, you can connect these speakers to your favorite legacy components, like a turntable (with built-in phono preamp) or tape deck or CD player, via a 3.5mm stereo minijack. The frequency response extends from 65 Hz to 22 kHz (±2 dB), which is fine for most situations. But if you really want to plumb the low-frequency depths, you can easily connect a subwoofer to its variable-level LFE output.

Reg Price:   $199.99

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This is the perfect gift for someone (or yourself) looking to rev up their home theater and add a major upgrade to their TV audio. The Klipsch Cinema 600 sound bar is a true 3.1 system with a dedicated center channel speaker for enhanced vocal clarity, Klipsch's famous horn loaded tweeters, and a 10-inch wireless subwoofer that you can place anywhere in the room. With Dolby Audio built-in, Dolby digital processing delivers a powerful cinema experience. Add on a pair of Klipsch Surround 3 wireless surround speakers for an extra $249 to create a killer 5.1 package.

This sound bar system has easy plug-and-play setup and comes with a motion sensing remote with LED buttons so you can control your experience easily from a dark movie-watching room. 

Reg Price:   $499.99

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