This holiday season, we want to help you make someone's dream come true.

Over the years, we've helped our customers do some pretty cool stuff with their gear. We've had customers call us for advice on using car-based audio equipment for a solar-powered home. We've helped them install a full home sound system on a trailer outfitted for tailgating. And with our first "You Dream It, We'll Help You Build It™" contest, we helped winner Robert Vega turn his brother-in-law Eric's wheelchair into a fully loaded dream machine.

That's how we came up with our "You Dream It, We'll Help You Build It: Holiday Dreams™" contest. With Robert and Eric as our inspiration, we asked people to use their imaginations to design a system that would bring happiness to someone else. After all, 'tis the season to do good for others.

How the Finalists Were Chosen:

We invited three Crutchfield employees, Jim, Debbie, and Juan, to review entries and choose our two finalists. All three are involved with local charitable and humanitarian efforts, and were happy to be involved in a contest designed to help make someone's dreams come true. They based their decision on the finalists' inventive ideas for bringing happiness to their intended recipients.

They chose Travis, who won the equipment he needed to build a sound system on his dad's riding mower, and Sam, who won the gear needed to build a home theater for his brother Ben. (Read more about Travis and Sam.) Both finalists also won access to Crutchfield Product Support Specialists to help them execute their described installation.

By November 24th, both Travis and Sam had completed their installations and sent us the photos and videos we needed to show you the results. Travis had installed a killer audio system on his dad’s riding mower, to thank him for all the outdoor work he does for the family. Sam transformed his brother Ben's room into a home theater, so that Ben's movie and music enjoyment wouldn't be limited by his cerebral palsy.

Starting on December 2nd, we let the world see the results. Visitors to our site were invited to sign in and vote to determine which of our finalists would win the Grand Prize — a $1,000 Crutchfield Gift Card. It was a tough choice, but in the end, our voters selected Sam to be our Grand Prize winner and receive a $1,000 Crutchfield Gift Card.

Our Winner: Sam's Bedroom Home Theater System

Sam's original entry:

"My brother Ben was born with cerebral palsy, and there are few activities that he can do. One thing he absolutely loves is being in his own room watching movies and listening to music. This is why I would like to build him the ultimate theatre in his room for a Christmas present. Ben's eyesight makes it hard for him to see pictures on a small 13" TV, which he has always had, so I chose a 42" 1080p model and an upconverting DVD player, so he can really see his movies like never before. I chose plasma so he can see the TV clearly from the tough viewing angle while he is in bed. The Yamaha receiver has plenty of connections for his TV, DVD player, and iPod. The Polk speakers will allow Ben to hear his music with awesome clarity. The iPod I chose is Ben's favorite color blue, and will give him a variety of music to listen to, because he can never find music he likes on the radio. Also, the new shake feature on the iPod means that Ben could shuffle his music without any help. Thank you!"

Sam's goal for his project:

"The goals for the system were to make a simple to use theatre in Ben's room that would allow him to both watch his movies and listen to the music he likes, while having a big screen and big sound to get him more involved."

The challenges he faced:

"The challenges were mostly where to put the large Polk speakers and still have good sound, but also how Ben would control his iPod. The shake feature is great, but the only problem is it is much less sensitive than I thought, and Ben hasn't been able to shake it with enough force to change the songs. However he still presses the next button."

How'd it turn out?

"Ben loves the whole system. I would ask him, 'Ben, what do you want to do, watch a movie or listen to music?' 'Music.' 'Do you want to listen to the radio or your iPod?' 'My iPod!' 'What do you want to listen to?' 'Paul McCartney.'

While he's watching a Paul McCartney DVD, he loves the sound, and sings along. I also notice when he's watching a movie he is actually looking at the TV, which he never used to do with his 13-inch TV; he would just look at it then look around and mostly listen.

He also loves being able to have all his favorite music on his iPod and he loves holding it, even if he's goofing around and just changing the song for no reason.

I love the crisp sound of the speakers with movies and Ben's iPod, and having the big glare-free screen is just amazing for movies and football games. Thank you so much."

Sam's Gear:

• (1) 472NA16GBL Apple iPod nano 16GB Blue
• (1) 703HDMIA1M AudioQuest HDMI-A 1m
• (1) 703HDMIA2M AudioQuest HDMI-A 2m
• (2) 119XPGP20 Monster Cable XPGP-20
• (1) 13342PZ80 Panasonic TH-42PZ80U
• (1) 107MON40C Polk Audio Monitor 40 CH Pair
• (1) 158DVP700B Sony DVPNS700H/B
• (1) 022RXV463 Yamaha RXV463
• (1) 043183185 Arista Stereo-t0-RCA mini Adapter

Total cost: $1992.86

Our Runner-up: Travis' Riding Lawnmower Audio System

Travis' original entry:

"Well my Dad is always out mowing our yard or doing some kind of yard work. And he always has this ancient radio with him, sometimes with headphones, most of the time no headphones, just with the volume all the way up. If I got this equipment I would install it on his riding lawn mower. That way he would have hi-fidelity music and radio with him all the time and he could just crank while he is mowing the yard or park the mower and turn it up. It's usually near him while he's doing stuff anyways in case he has to haul stuff. By the way we have very few neighbors and the closest one is about 500 feet away through a million trees so no worries about disturbing the peace."

Travis' installation:

"I installed everything that I initially ordered: JL Audio 8W7, Polk Audio MM Components, Alpine PDX 2.150 and 1.600, and the Pioneer head unit. I also installed some StreetGlow to make it stand out. And of course all of the wire necessary to make everything work, and an Optima Yellow Top Battery just for the audio system."

The challenges he faced:

"The very first thing I did was design the sub box. That was easy. Once that was done I started working on getting the Polks on the mower. I ended up after about 5 or 6 fabrication failures with just round speaker baffles that had plastic grills wrapped around behind them to protect them and add a good look. I thought that was hard but when I started brainstorming on how to mount and secure the sub box to the mower, that's when I really wanted to cry. The box is very heavy weighing about 18 lbs. on its own. Add a 17 lb. sub and two roughly 10-lb. amps, now we're talking close to 60 lbs. I had to take 10-gauge steel and build a frame to support a piece of wood to spread the weight around as evenly as possible. In the end it easily handled the weight and I was extremely pleased that all my work had finally started paying off."

How it all turned out:

"So far I am very impressed with the performance of the equipment. It sounds really good even in the open environment of a riding lawnmower. The W7 turns the seat into a massage chair and the Polks are so ridiculously loud with no, and I mean no, distortion.

[My dad] was very impressed that I was able to pull it off. It came out exactly how I planned and he couldn't be happier with such an impressive setup that he gets all to himself. I must say that it's a nicer system than most vehicles have. He's very grateful to everyone at Crutchfield for giving him such an amazing gift and this summer he will put it to good use. I told him that I will have no protest to mowing the lawn now but I doubt he will pass up the chance to do any kind of yard work now. "

His favorite thing about the system:

"The W7 for sure. I'm the only person in the world with a W7 on their lawnmower!"

Travis' Gear:

• (1) 500PDX1600 Alpine PDX-1.600
• (1) 500PDX2150 Alpine PDX-2.150
• (1) 1368W73 JL Audio 8W7-3
• (2) 1211ZN7235 StreetWires ZN7235
• (1) 211PSK04B StreetWires PowerStation
• (1) 211UCT1225 StreetWires Ultra Cable
• (1) 211UCT1425 StreetWires UCT14 25 ft.
• (1) 12044U105 Universal Antenna
• (1) 130P7000BT Pioneer DEH-P7000BT
• (1) 107MM6501 Polk Mobile Monitor MM6501

Total cost: $2000.00