Holiday Dreams — You Dream It, We’ll Help You Build It Contest

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're asking you to use your imagination to design a system that will 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.

The two finalists will each win the products selected in their entry, along with access to Crutchfield Product Support Specialists to help them execute their described installation.

The two finalists will then have until November 24, 2008, to assemble their systems and submit photographs, videos, and descriptions of the installation process to Crutchfield in order to be eligible for the Grand Prize — a $1,000 Crutchfield Gift Card.

Starting December 1, 2008, we will make photos, videos and descriptions available online, and invite any visitors to our site to sign in and vote for the system they like best. Voting will conclude by midnight on December 5, 2008.

Crutchfield will announce the Grand Prize Winner, as selected by Bruce Feldman, by December 25, 2008.

Read the full contest rules.

Travis S. — Fairbanks, AK

"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' Gear:

(1) 500PDX1600 Alpine PDX-1.600
(1) 500PDX2150 Alpine PDX-2.150
(1) 1368W73 JL Audio 8W7-3
(1) 130P7000BT Pioneer DEH-P7000BT
(1) 107MM6501 Polk Mobile Monitor MM6501

Total cost: $1929.95

Sam L. — Marion, MA

"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!"