15 Hi-Fi Gifts For The Audiophile
Everyone loves good music. But there are some who study it religiously, live it, and require extensive amounts of it on a daily basis at louder than recommended volume levels. This gift list is for them.
Instead of an iTunes gift card this year, give the dedicated music junkie in your life the gift of more music and more decibels. Here are 15 gift ideas for every Audiophile on your shopping list this season.
Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Headphones
NOISE CANCELING
These sleek and minimalist speakers pack a serious audiophile punch, with best-in-class noise canceling and a deep, rich soundscape that will bring out new details in anyone’s favorite music. The 30-hour battery life and touch sensor controls are just the icing on the cake.
Sonos Five Speaker
3 FREE MONTHS OF APPLE MUSIC
The Sonos Five’s combination of three high-excursion subwoofers and three precisely angled tweeters makes it a serious contender for best in-home stereo speakers. Buy one and set it horizontally for a small footprint music experience, or add another one and stand them vertically for movie theater quality sound.
U-Turn Audio Orbit Turntable
FOR THE VINYL COLLECTOR
Everything on the U-Turn Audio Orbit Turntable is a design nerd’s dream, from the noise-reducing external belt drive to the conical diamond stylus and the OA3 gimbal tonearm. It’s as gorgeous as it is functional.
I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution
MTV’S FIRST DECADE
MTV, once a groundbreaking platform dedicated exclusively to music videos, revolutionized television and pop culture. “I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution” narrates this transformative journey.
From its daring inception, which many doubted, MTV evolved significantly, notably with the introduction of “The Real World,” marking a shift away from music videos. This book explores how MTV’s evolution impacted television and pop culture, reflecting on the era when music videos reigned supreme to the rise of reality TV.
Grovemade Wood Headphone Stand
A DESKTOP ESSENTIAL
All of Grovemade’s handmade wooden accessories are as striking as they are useful, and that goes doubly for this headphone stand. It has to be the coolest way for any audiophile to show off their top-of-the-line over ear headphones.
Garmin Venu Sq 2 – Music Edition
PHONE-FREE LISTENING
The Garmin Venu Sq 2 – Music Edition is a versatile smartwatch ideal for music enthusiasts who love the outdoors. It allows you to download and store music directly on the watch, making it perfect for backcountry trips where connectivity might be limited.
The watch’s advanced features include health and fitness tracking, GPS navigation, and a long-lasting battery life, all packed into a sleek design. This watch is not just a tool for tracking your adventures but also a personal entertainment hub, keeping your favorite tunes at your wrist wherever you go.
Sony NW-A306 Portable Audio Player
THE WALKMAN IS BACK
You don’t have to be an audiophile to know that phones aren’t the best sonic purveyors. Count on the sound masters over at Sony to also know that even a good pair of headphones can only do so much.
With their NW-A306 Portable Audio Player, you can download and stream your music into a high-tech machine made for music, and not texting or apps. Clear, dimensional, like-you’re-there sound comes courtesy of an encoder for compression then a decoder to free the music in its natural form.
Sonos Premium Immersive Set With Arc Ultra
A CINEMATIC EXPERIENCE
For the movie fanatic who can’t get enough of cinematic sound, transforming their living room into a theater is the dream. With Sonos’s Home Theater Premium Immersive Set, that dream can become a reality, with incredible depth and clarity of sound.
Gearbox MKII Transparent Turntable
HIGH FIDELITY
Ever wondered what’s going on inside your turntable while you’re spinning a vinyl? Gearbox’s MKII Transparent Turntable will let you see that in striking fashion. But it’s not just decoration—this turntable is fully equipped with an aluminum pulley belt drive and upgraded electronics for awesome sound fidelity.
Teenage Engineering Tonic Pocket Drum Synth
A CALCULATOR-SIZED SEQUENCER
Based out of Stockholm, Sweden, Teenage Engineering produces some of the most innovative—and compact—musical equipment on the planet. Take their Tonic as a great example: It’s a fully functioning, pocket-calculator-sized drum synth that’s guaranteed to get you grooving in no time. Beginners will find the visual display of sequenced sounds easy to work with, while more advanced electronic music gurus will love the ability to add sounds via a compatible VST.
Vinyl Me, Please Record Club
NO STRINGS ATTACHED
Vinyl Me, Please is a record club offering three-month and year-long subscriptions that deliver one essential, hand picked, and by their own admission, very stellar album to your door each month. The albums are pressed exclusively for VMP and include special edition features like custom lyric books or artwork, notes from the artists, and other can’t-get-it-elsewhere tangibles.
Marshall Stanmore III Speaker
IMMERSIVE LISTENING
Marshall is renowned in the music world for its peerless quality and expert-level performance, so it should come as no surprise that the Stanmore III Speaker is one of our top picks. Though it’s small enough to sit on a living room shelf or cabinet, it’s got impressive power and volume that will blow you away. The heavy Marshall signature sound delivers full immersion into whatever you’re listening to, and sound that will remain consistent and solid no matter where in your room you are, or what size room you’re in.
You can also take full control of your sound directly using the bass and treble controls. Balance everything and tweak your sound output using the integrated control knobs to deliver the perfect sound quality for any time of music, movie, TV show, or game.
Tivoli Audio Revive Speaker and Charger
BEDSIDE COMPANION
A wireless charger, hi-fi speaker, and light all rolled into one package make Tivoli Audio’s Revive the perfect companion for a bedside table. It’s darned handsome too, so much so that you may want to display it on your living room table instead.
Google Nest Audio
75% LOUDER
The small but powerful Google Nest Audio smart speaker is a refined and respectful alternative to Amazon’s Alexa. It’s 75 percent louder than the original Google Home, and has a big 50 percent bass boost compared to its predecessor as well.
Transparent Speaker
MINIMALIST DESIGN
Ditch the box that surrounds a speaker’s innards, and you might be surprised to find just how simple and gorgeous sound technology is. The Transparent Speaker lets you do that in style, and offers fantastic sound with its dual three-inch full-range drivers and 6.5-inch sub.
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