2023 Annual Holiday Gadget Gift Guide

It’s that time of year again.  Veteran’s Day has past, the chill of Fall is in the air, and stores are stalking their Christmas decorations.  So it’s time for our annual Holiday Gadget Gift Guide.  Getting gifts for our loved ones is a tradition, and not everyone has the same budget.  We tried to give a good range of gift ideas from different categories and price points.  Below are the items in our Gift Guide, with a description of the item followed by either a link to the review, or the schedule for when the review will be published.  We hope it gives you some good ideas.

 

Citizen has an extensively long history or providing excellent quality watches.  Now they also provide smart watches.  With their CZ Smart Hybrid Gen-2 Sport Smartwatch, you get the best of both worlds.  It has analog hands, so it has the look of a dress watch.  Yet the face is LCD, so you get the functionality of a smart watch with a longer battery life between charges.  MSRP is $425.  Check back for the review, scheduled on our website for the week ending 12/10/23.

Cobra is a company well known for their great radar detectors.  But they also make great accessory products.  Some of those are power solution products.  Once of those products is a power inverter designed to power just about any product including power tools, and even a fridge!  It is their Cobra Pro 3000W.  MSRP is $379.  Check back for the review scheduled for week ending 12/03/23.

 

We like our music, so why not take it with us on the go.  This includes ATV’s.  Garmin may be well known for their GPS receivers, but they also do a great job with audio.  Their Garmin Tread Audio System is an all-in-one system for your ATV.  MSRP is $1,199.  Check out the review here:

https://www.stereowiseplus.com/2023/06/garmin-tread-audio-system-review.html

 

I love jamming to my music in my truck.  There are a lot of options from a multitude of manufacturers.  Image Dynamics is one of the better ones.  And if you like a lot of bass, their subs are excellent!  MSRP is $119.  Check out the review of their Image Dynamics ID8 Ultra Low Frequency Subwoofer here:

https://www.stereowiseplus.com/2023/04/image-dynamics-id8-ultra-low-frequency.html

When you look at companies with a long history of providing legendary speakers for our music, it doesn’t get much bigger than JBL.  The have used their expertise to create great sounding smart speakers, that also include the epic styling of some of their legendary speakers of the past.  The JBL Authentics 500 is part of a new line that brings back that old school styling. MSRP is $699.  Check back for their review scheduled for the week ending 11/26/23.

 

If you want to take your music with you on the go, like in an ATV or boat, it all starts with the receiver.  Kenwood makes a great one with their KMR-XM500.  It even works in a golf cart.  And the color display looks great!  MSRP is $500.  Check out the review here:

https://www.stereowiseplus.com/2023/07/kenwood-excelon-motorsport-kmr-xm500.html

 

Kenwood has been making great car audio products for decades.  And for decades their best products were their Excelon line.  But now they topped it with a new Excelon Reference line.  The best got better.  And their best of the best car receiver is their DNR-1007XR.  MSRP is $1,900.  Check out the review here:

https://www.stereowiseplus.com/2023/09/kenwood-excelon-reference-dnr-1007xr.html

 

If you like livin’ loud, and taking your music with you on the go, Kicker may be what the doctor ordered.  They make an excellent waterproof soundbar perfectly designed for your side by side.  Not only is it loud, but it sounds great doing it!  And with the built-in amp, all you need to enjoy your tunes is your phone.  The Kicker KPB1 PowerBar has an MSRP if $699.  Check out the review here:

https://www.stereowiseplus.com/2023/04/kicker-kpb1-powersport-review.html

When it comes to car audio, Kicker makes some great products.  Music isn’t the same without a subwoofer.  And Kicker is known for making excellent subs and sub amps.  They are also innovative in getting the best performance out of their subs.  They even have excellent subs that come in an enclosure, and also have a built-in amp.  One of those products, the PTRTP Powered Down-Firing 12” subwoofer even comes with a passive radiator to increase its performance.  MSRP is $499.  Check back on our website for review scheduled for week ending 11/19/23.

 

If you’ve enjoyed car audio as long as I have, the name Nakamichi may ring a bell.  Back in the day, if you wanted the best, it was Nakamichi.  They are back in the US, and again have some great products.  For the best car audio system, you want an active system.  That requires a DSP and amplifiers.  You get them both in one package in the NDST500A.  MSRP is $1,049.  Check out the review here:

https://www.stereowiseplus.com/2023/05/nakamichi-ndst500a-12-channel-digital.html

 

If you like movies, a home theater system may be on your wish list.  There are a lot of great manufacturers to choose from, but one of the best is RBH Sound.  And their best of the best is their Signature Reference Series.  Their top-of-the-line powered subwoofer is their RBH Sound Signature Reference 1212P-SF/R powered home theater subwoofer.  When T-Rex comes, you won’t just hear him coming, you will definitely FEEL him coming!  If you have the means, I highly suggest it!  Check out the review here:

https://www.stereowiseplus.com/2023/03/rbh-signature-reference-series-1212p.html

 

If you are a gamer, a nice computer system starts with a good case.  Not only does it hold the vital components, it gets power to them and signal to them.  And helps with airflow to keep them cool.  ThermalTake makes great computer components, and that includes cases.  Their ThermalTake Ceres 500TG ARB is one of them.  MSRP is $169.99.  Check out the review here:

https://www.stereowiseplus.com/2023/03/thermaltake-ceres-500tg-argb-mid-tower.html

 

When it comes to great sounding car audio, it’s easy to think of needing great speakers.  But it’s clean power that really wakes up a great speaker and gets it to perform at its best.  A quality amplifier is key.  While they are a newer company, Wāvtech is doing things right.  Their Wāvtech Link 1000.1 mini is a high-quality subwoofer amp.  MSRP is $499.  Check out the review here:

https://www.stereowiseplus.com/2023/09/wavtech-link-10001-mini-1000-watt-mono.html

 

There are a lot great health products.  This also includes smartwatches.  The Withings ScanWatch Hybrid Smartwatch was designed to help monitor your health.  It even features FDA Approval.  And it works in spades.  MSRP is $299.  Check out the review here:

https://www.stereowiseplus.com/2023/02/withings-scanwatch-hybrid-smartwatch.html

 

We know that holiday gift shopping can be a stressful time.  Everyone has different interests and needs.  And you want your hard-earned cash to go towards a quality product.  We hope that this will relieve some of the stress and give you some good ideas.  Happy shopping!  And from our family to yours, Happy Holidays!!