With holiday shopping in full swing thanks to a late Thanksgiving, coming up with gift ideas for someone that has everything or someone that is otherwise simply difficult to satisfy, can be a challenge. Of course, it doesn’t have to be the festive season to give something like a turntable or some headphones as a gift, but Christmas and holiday sales do provide a great incentive to pick up some of these products.
Giving someone a new 4K or 8K TV for example is a super way to improve a friend or family member’s NFL playoff football experience, as well as their NHL and NBA season experiences, and weekly streaming activities.
Or how about the passionate music mover that no longer can sit in his or her room and listen to their favorite artists?
Well, CE Pro’s list of Christmas electronics includes a nice set of reasonably priced music players, speakers, TVs, and more that should do the trick for just about anyone on your holiday gift list. Alternatively, there’s also no shame in gifting yourself one of these products as well.
A Quick List of Holiday Gift Ideas Ideal for Audio or Video Enthusiasts
Meeting the demands of these types of people who may be electronics enthusiasts, here are 12 suggestions for AV products that would make perfect gifts for audio and video enthusiasts in your life.
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- Pro-Ject T1 EVO Turntable
- Naim Audio CD5si CD Player
- PSB Speakers AM3 Powered Speakers
- Sonos Beam Gen 2 Soundbar
- KEF Q1 Meta Bookshelf Speakers
- Sennheiser HD 660S2 Headphones
- Marantz 1510 AV Receiver
- Arcam SA10 Integrated Amplifier
- Moon by Simaudio 280D Streaming DAC
- Samsung QN75QN900D 8K Television
- Apple TV 4K
- Seagate Portable 2TB External Hard Drive (STGX2000400)
Pro-Ject T1 EVO Turntable
The T1 EVO is a turnkey turntable that carries a retail price of $499, and it is offered in a choice of piano black, satin walnut and satin white. Fitted with an Ortofon OM 10 phono cartridge and a built-in phono preamp, all that needs to be done is to connect it to an amplifier, integrated amplifier or AV receiver.
Pro-Ject T1 EVO Turntable. Photo Courtesy/McIntosh Group
Naim Audio CD5si CD Player
Staying in the audio category, this holiday gift idea pulls from the audiophile market. The CD5si from the British company Naim Audio carries a retail price of $2,300. The CD player incorporates technologies such as a Burr Brown PCM1793 DAC chip, and proprietary circuit design elements, and new laser optical technologies.
Naim Audio CD CD5SI. Photo Courtesy/Focal Naim
PSB Speakers AM3 Powered Speakers
The competitively priced active or powered speakers are offered in a choice of black or white and serve as nice way to complete a desktop audio system when paired with a computer. The Canadian manufacturer specifies the $499 per pair speakers to deliver a frequency response of 56Hz to 22kHz, and internally the AM3 employ a 4-inch woofer and ¾-inch tweeter.
Sonos Beam Gen 2 Soundbar
A soundbar is a great way to improve someone’s daily AV activities, and one of the most popular soundbar companies is Sonos. This holiday AV gift idea is currently on sale at $369 (normal MSRP is $499), and the Beam Gen 2 can be used for music, video content. In addition, the Beam Gen 2 can also be used as part of a Sonos whole-house audio system.
Sonos Beam Gen 2 soundbar. Photo Courtesy/Sonos
KEF Q1 Meta Bookshelf Speakers
KEF offers a broad line of products that range in cost. The reasonably priced Q1 Meta, and the global audio company points out this set of bookshelf speakers utilize its 12th-generation Uni-Q driver array. The speakers also incorporate KEF’s MAT technology, and according to the company, the 86dB sensitive speakers deliver a frequency response of 51Hz to 20kHz.
Christmas Electronics KEF Q1 Meta speakers. Photo Courtesy/KEF
Sennheiser HD 660S2 Headphones
Sennheiser is a high-performance headphone manufacturer that engineers products for the consumer and professional audio markets. The company’s HD660S2 open-back headphones are currently available for a price for a discounted price of $500 per pair. The holiday gift idea employs 38mm drivers and offer a rated frequency response of 8Hz to 41.5kHz.
Sennheiser HD 660S2 headphones. Photo Courtesy/Sennheiser
Marantz 1510 AV Receiver
Rated to deliver 50-watts-per-channel, the $599 5.2-channel receiver stands out in the home theater category. The slim-profile AVR is compatible with 4K video, and it offers the company’s HEOS whole-house audio platform. The 1510 also provides compatibility with smart home technologies such as Bluetooth, Apple AirPlay, HDMI ARC, and Amazon Alexa.
Arcam SA10 Integrated Amplifier
One of the most surprising trends to develop in the home AV market has not only been the long-term resurgence of vinyl, which is not news at this point, but the resurgence of the CD format. The $499 SA10 represents a strong holiday gift idea for AV enthusiasts due to its ability to support the connections of turntables, CD players and other source components. Arcam rates the SA10 to produce 50 watts per channel, and integrated amp even includes pre-out connections to support its ability to integrate into larger AV systems.
Arcam SA10 integrated amp. Photo Courtesy/Harman
Moon by Simaudio 280D Streaming DAC
Wrapping up the audio components within the our holiday gift idea list for AV enthusiasts is the $3,900 280D Streaming DAC. The Canadian company manufactures some of the highest performing products in home audio and its 280D DAC is basically an audiophile’s dream digital solution. The DAC supports DSD64, DSD128 and DSD256, as well as PCM audio up to 384kHz. The DAC also offers a choice of connection options, including USB, and a choice of RCA or XLR outputs.
Moon by Simaudio 280D Streaming DAC. Photo Courtesy/Simaudio
Samsung QN75QN900D 8K Television
Samsung is a go-to brand for many video enthusiasts, and the QN75QN900D meets the need for high performance large screen home entertainment. This Christmas electronics choice is on sale at a price of approximately $4,500 and it incorporates the company’s Neural Quantum Processor 8K processor and 8K AI Upscaling technologies.
Samsung QN75QN900D 75-inch 8K TV. Photo Courtesy/Samsung
Apple TV 4K
It’s a great time to be an AV junkie with all the great pieces of gear and the many content choices that are available. With a starting price of $129, the Apple TV 4K is a bit more expensive than competitive products, but it delivers a high level of performance with support for Dolby Vision and HDR10+ HDR content, as well as immersive audio Dolby Atmos support, and if someone is already invested into the Apple ecosystem, the component enables access to Apple Music, Apple Photos, and more.
Seagate Portable 2TB External Hard Drive (STGX2000400)
The cost-friendly Seagate portable hard drive provides a user-friendly way to store gaming data, music files, and video content. The $69 hard drive connects to devices using the USB 3.0 format, and as a storage solution the product provides a high level of value, even if it winds up on the boring side of a holiday gift idea.
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