All prices listed in CA$ unless otherwise noted.

It’s that time of year again—the season of giving!—when many of us are thinking of giving ourselves or our close ones audio gifts but already spent so much this holiday season that we need to be budget conscious. In that spirit, I’ve put together a list of Holiday audio gift ideas that even Scrooge might approve of.

Artika Sonoloc Slatted Wood Wall Panels (Room Diffusion Panels)

One of the most significant sound improvements I’ve recently made to my system came from one of my most affordable upgrades.

Costco is selling four “Artika” Sonoloc slatted wood wall panels, which come in packs of four ($50). These 2″ X 2″ panels were extremely effective as diffusion panels. This is one of those audio life hacks that offers a big potential upside in sound quality that’s also risk-free—you can return them if you don’t like them.

I mounted four panels on the front wall, between my front speakers, and another four on the rear wall. I’ll repeat here what I said when I heard the difference: Wow! It brought focus to the soundstage and greatly improved the midrange and highs. The difference was remarkable.

Solid State Drive (SSD) to Replace Your Hard Disc Drive (HDD) In Your Network-Attached Storage (NAS)

My most recent upgrade to my system was to transfer some of my most played music from my NAS onto an external SSD.

I bought a 2TB external SSD for around $200 at Best Buy on a Black Friday sale last week. I transferred some of my most played music to the SSD and the improvement in detail and sound quality was astonishing compared to streaming from my NAS.

Linear Power Supply For Your Modem/Router

The sound quality of streamed files sourced from Qobuz or Tidal took a leap forward when I replaced the cheap switch-mode power supply that came with my modem/router with an S-Booster linear power supply. Stock power supplies are usually of poor quality, with no filters, and add noise to the music signal as it is streaming. A well chosen linear power supply can drastically mitigate this noise, offering more detail, a better sense of musical effortless, and a more dynamic, organic-sounding presentation.

Any quality linear power supply should be a big improvement over the stock one, and the improvement in sound quality should be immediately noticeable.

You can pick up decent linear power supplies for under $200 (Ali-Express), but my power supply of choice is the Sbooster, which sells in the $500 range. Just make sure the LPS you’re thinking of buying has the correct voltage and amperage. The Sbooster comes with a variety of DC connectors to fit your device’s DC power plug.

Cable Elevators

I have seen very expensive cable elevators from a variety of audiophile sources, but the ones I use are door stoppers I bought from a Dollarama dollar store for $3.50 each. 

I have no idea how these compare to the audiophile brands in terms of sound quality, but they are finished in stainless steel and keep my cables off the floor. They’re also surprisingly weighty, which can provide a more stable foundation for your cables to help minimize vibrations that could interfere with performance.

Ikea Magnetisk Wine Rack For Cable Management

I used to struggle to keep all my signal cables—Ethernet, HDMI, speaker wires, and interconnects—away from power cords to minimize electromagnetic interference (EMI), which can corrupt the signal quality. 

The solution? IKEA wine racks ($35 each). They’re well built and can be stained or painted to match your décor. These do a brilliant job of separating cables, or even for holding wine bottles!

HDMI and Ethernet Cable

My TV’s sound and picture quality improved when I upgraded my HDMI cable to the 2.1 version that supports 48 Gbps (Gigabits per second) data transfer. Not all HDMI cables are created equal, and while I was at the Seattle Audio show a couple of months back, I discovered Blue Jeans Cable’s new Series-4 UHD HDMI 2.1 cable.

It’s sold for about US$ 17 on the company’s website, but don’t let the cable’s modest price fool you—it made a dramatic improvement in my system for video and audio. 

Blue Jeans Cable also sells very high quality, well-made Ethernet cables at their facility in Seattle that would be a good step up in terms of construction and materials over bog-standard generic Cat5/6 cables.

I also like the quality and value of Silent Angel’s C7 Ethernet cable (starting at around $100), although I preferred Cardas Audio’s Clear Ethernet cable (around $400), which I also preferred over Audioquest’s Diamond Ethernet cable, which costs considerably more.

Subscription to Qobuz, Tidal or Other Streaming Services, CDs and Vinyls

Music is always a great gift idea. Who doesn’t love music?

My favourite music streaming services for high-res sound are Qobuz and Tidal. The price for monthly subscriptions is reasonable and even better if you commit to an annual membership.

Many people subscribe to library-management software Roon, which is well liked for helping people discover new music. Roon also requires a monthly or yearly subscription.

Music store gift certificates can also be a fun (and easy) gift idea. Even better would be to give a box-set, CD, LP, or concert on Blue-Ray that you know is bound to make the recipient pleased as Christmas punch!

External DAC For Ear Buds and Headphones 

Many of us use decent ear buds or headphones when we are out and about, but rely on the built-in DACs in our phones. Better external DACs that override those built-in ones can make a big difference.

I have a couple of outboard DACs that are exceptional, from Advanced Sound Group (ADV.) ($50) and Audeze (starting at $200).

Another nifty gift idea for better sound could be a better headphone cable.

Power Cord

An entry level aftermarket power cord can be bought for under $200 and will make a notable improvement in sound quality over a stock power cord. Think improved bass, clearer vocals, sweeter highs, a more transparent midrange, and a bigger, more organized soundstage.

I started out with entry level power cords from Shunyata and quickly graduated to the company’s higher quality offerings, as well as to better power cables by Cardas Audio and Audio Sensibility. These brands also have good resale value.

IsoAcoustics Orea, Gaia and Puck Isolation Feet

These products, designed to reduce vibrations in your audio equipment and speakers, offer a significant upgrade over traditional spikes or using equipment without vibration control.

The Orea start at around $50 each and you would need three or four per component. The IsoAcoustics Pucks come in sets of eight, priced at around $130 per set. While not as effective as the Oreas, they still deliver a noticeable improvement in clarity and performance.

A set of four Gaias starts at $250 for the Gaia III model and goes up in price depending on the version you’ll need to match the weight of your speakers. These were a game changer for me.

That’s it! Happy shopping, and Happy Holidays everyone!