Crutchfield: The Podcast Ep 68

[Speaker 1] (0:11 - 0:22)

Hello and welcome to Crutchfield, the podcast. I'm JR and I'm Huffy and we are here in November preparing for Christmas. Yes, so many of us are.

[Speaker 2] (0:22 - 0:28)

We've been preparing for Christmas for months and months. Let's be honest here. We're a retail, right?

We're consumer electronics.

[Speaker 1] (0:28 - 0:34)

A lot of work has happened at Crutchfield to prepare for this time of year. It's kind of a big deal around here.

[Speaker 2] (0:34 - 0:38)

It is. It's like the thing the whole year revolves around. Let's be honest.

[Speaker 1] (0:38 - 0:50)

This episode drops on Monday, November 24th. Yes. Thanksgiving week.

And in this show, we are going to attempt to make choosing an amazing gift for your loved ones as easy as possible.

[Speaker 2] (0:51 - 0:56)

And don't forget, nothing says the holidays quite like buying yourself a big fat present.

[Speaker 1] (0:57 - 1:25)

Yeah, we have no illusions that some of you are Christmas shopping for yourselves. You deserve it. We totally embrace this.

Absolutely. We support it. Encourage it even.

Absolutely. We took a look at a lot of the deals going on this time of year and we pinpointed some we want to share with you. We've got a bunch of cool stuff to tell you about.

A lot of it is on sale and we've got stuff for your car, your home, your ears, your eyes, your hands, and even your whole face.

[Speaker 2] (1:25 - 1:37)

That's right. We each have eight gift ideas, so that's a total of 16 products to cover with you. This might take a while, so we'll have to kind of keep it short, I think.

[Speaker 1] (1:38 - 1:55)

Yeah, with 16 gifts to present, how about we give ourselves about a minute each? 16 gifts in 16 minutes. I think that's doable.

What do you think? Just don't put a timer on me. We'll be fine.

Yeah, we're not going to actually set a timer. I don't know. We like to talk a lot.

Yeah, it's not gonna be easy for you, is it?

[Speaker 2] (1:55 - 1:56)

No, no, not at all.

[Speaker 1] (1:57 - 2:19)

It's all right. I think we can do it if we don't dive too deep on each product. Let's let crutchfield.com do the heavy lifting for us. What do you think? Okay, yeah. There will be links to all of these products in the show notes.

Here's how to find them. Go to crutchfield.com slash podcast for this episode. And as long as you're there, check out our previous episodes.

We've put out some pretty great episodes this year.

[Speaker 2] (2:20 - 2:27)

And please like, subscribe, follow, comment, review, whatever your preferred podcast player lets you do to support our show.

[Speaker 1] (2:27 - 2:56)

You can also email us. Now, we have not yet recorded our December episode, which means you have several weeks left to help us help you. Email us any questions you'd like us to answer on the December episode.

We would love nothing more than to record our last episode of the year, helping answer your questions. We want to make it all about you. Podcast at crutchfield.com is the email address to use.

[Speaker 2] (2:56 - 3:01)

All right. We promised them a short podcast. We get to the point.

I think we should get on with it.

[Speaker 1] (3:01 - 3:07)

Got it. All right. We can do this.

You ready for some Christmas gift ideas?

[Speaker 2] (3:07 - 3:08)

Let's do it. Let's jump right in.

[Speaker 1] (3:09 - 3:24)

Here we go. I'll start. First up, the Belkin Stage Power Grip.

Now, I got a chance to have this recently and take it around and show it to all of our sales advisors. This thing is awesome. Everybody wanted to go buy one for themselves.

[Speaker 2] (3:25 - 3:25)

Oh, yeah. I remember.

[Speaker 1] (3:25 - 4:11)

It is a power bank, right, to keep your phone charged that is shaped like the handle of a camera. So when you magnet mount it to the back of your phone, it wirelessly charges your phone and gives you a way to grip and hold your phone as if it were like a mirrorless or a DSLR camera. Right.

This thing is awesome. Keeps your phone charged, makes taking pictures and videos easier. And it's also a desk stand for your phone.

So it's great in the office, at home, and out on the go. And you can even put a tripod on it. And there's more colors coming soon.

Right now, we only have it in black, but I've been assured more colors are coming soon. That's the Belkin Stage Power Grip for $79.99. So on a similar...

[Speaker 2] (4:11 - 5:30)

So my first product, I only have a similar... On a similar note, my first product is the Belkin UltraCharge. So picture this, right?

On your nightstand, a lot of us have cell phone chargers, right? Yes. Now, what if that cell phone charger could collapse?

So it's nice and portable. Now you've got that cell phone charger you can take with you. And not just a cell phone charger.

No, it'll charge your phone. It'll charge your headphones. All in one little convenient package, right?

Collapsible. It comes with a 45 watt USB power supply. That's pretty good.

That's a lot of watts. That allows for fast charging. So, and the thing I like about this most, because I mean, I've shopped for these before for myself, I gotta tell you.

And there's a lot of questionable products that are out there. And these things charge our phones. Our phones are kind of important these days, right?

This is from Belkin, a brand you trust, right? Uses key charging. Some of those other sort of janky ones will make your phone like heat up.

Exactly. This offers some cooling technology to take care of that. So, you know, to help preserve your battery, because you don't want the battery getting hot, because then it doesn't last as long.

So, you're sitting there wondering why your battery on your phone died way before everyone else's. That's because you've been using that, as you called it, janky charger. This ain't a janky charger.

This is the good stuff. How much is it? $99.99. Excellent.

[Speaker 1] (5:30 - 6:42)

All right. I promised you we're going to switch around and give you all sorts of stuff. Yeah.

We're going to move into the world of TVs now. TVs. That's right.

A TV makes a fantastic Christmas gift for anybody, maybe just for you. And I would like to tell you about the Sony Bravia 7. We have the 65-inch 4K mini LED with local dimming.

This is the perfect TV for like a bright room. You need a bright TV so that you can get the brightness and the detail and the contrast that you want. My favorite thing about it, though, is the studio calibrated modes for Netflix, Amazon, and Sony Pictures Core, which makes it look the way it looks to those people that are mixing and mastering the video for these shows at the studios.

And so if you are like me and you're watching Pluribus on Apple TV Plus, fantastic show right now, use the Sony Pictures Core mode since that show is indeed made by Sony Pictures. Normally, this TV is $1,500, currently on sale for $1,298. And even at $1,500, it was already one of our best-selling TVs.

So this is going to sell pretty great at $1,298.

[Speaker 2] (6:42 - 8:25)

Absolutely. So of course, I have to bring a TV into the party as well, right? You're going to one-up me, aren't you?

Different, you know? It's different. It's better in some ways, I won't lie.

But I know, I said it. So I've got the LG OLED 65C5, all right? This is smack dab in the middle of that LG lineup.

There's a lot of value there. And when you're talking OLED, it's the best black levels there are. We're talking inky black levels.

If you haven't seen an OLED in person, it's tough to want a different TV after you've seen one because, man, man, they can be pretty. The contrast is phenomenal. Now, not quite as bright as the TV you're talking about.

Right. So like your TV a lot, but this one with those inky black levels, it's really a TV that is great for pretty much everything you could throw at it, whether or not it's gaming or movies or sports, whatever you got going on. It's a phenomenal TV.

And it's not, don't just take my word for it. I think I've heard that somewhere before. There is so much value in this product.

It's really just a multipurpose TV for just about every application. Other than if you have a super bright room, maybe that's when you would want to go with LCD, something that can put out a little bit more brightness. Man, this is a beautiful set.

So my TV was on sale, 200 bucks off. Is your TV on sale, Huffy? No, this is on sale.

Tis the season. This thing is marked right around 1400 bucks at $1,396.99. Normally almost $2,700. So we're looking at a savings of $1,300 on this TV.

Heck yeah. That's a lot of spending money. All right.

You win the TV battle. I don't know if I won it, but you did well. You keep trying.

All right.

[Speaker 1] (8:25 - 8:31)

Next up, before I get to the product, Huffy, did you listen to our previous month's episode, October?

[Speaker 2] (8:31 - 8:33)

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I was a part of it. Yes, yes.

[Speaker 1] (8:33 - 9:53)

Do you remember what we talked about in that episode? Heck yeah. What was it?

Fender. Fender guitars. Heck yeah.

We would be insane not to mention a Fender guitar here on this show, right? And I've got the perfect one for you. It is the Squier Sonic Stratocaster Pack for $335.99. If you know someone in your life who is thinking about playing the guitar, maybe you want to get a guitar for your kid, your loved one, your mom, your dad, anybody who's thinking about getting into guitar, this is a perfect starter pack. And it includes everything. Everything a person needs to play electric guitar. The guitar, the amplifier, the cable, the strap to hold the guitar on their person, picks to hit the strings with, even a carrying case to take it to the gig.

And if you listened to last month's episode, you know Charlie and Ned and Corey and Rodel love all of the Fender guitars, but especially a lot of love given for this lower price sort of entry level, get started with guitar type of guitar. It's not just for learning. You could take it out and gig with it as well.

So give somebody this guitar, maybe even some of the guitar lessons, you will be making the world a better place. There will be more music in the world because of you. Heck, you might even be giving the next Jimi Hendrix their start.

[Speaker 2] (9:53 - 9:56)

Ooh, then that's like a gift to all of us. Exactly.

[Speaker 1] (9:56 - 9:57)

All right, Huffy, what do you got next?

[Speaker 2] (9:58 - 11:03)

So how about the gift of bass? Bass. Bass.

That's right. I'm going to talk about the SVS Micro 3000. Now used to be that if you want a big bass, you needed a big box, right?

Yep. So the problem with the big boxes is sometimes they're not that musical, but what if you could get both a musical subwoofer and one that has impact for a home theater? Well, that sounds like the best of both worlds.

It does. Now, what if I told you you can get that in a compact size where it's not going to take up a huge amount of space? That sounds even better, right?

So that's the SVS Micro 3000. So SVS has been making amazing subs for years now. Recently, they got into these smaller design ones and they're doing it, right?

They have two eight-inch woofers in there. So it has as much surface space for the subwoofer as a much larger sub, and there's plenty of power to keep it accurate as well. So big bass, a little package, SVS 3000 Micro.

And of course it's on sale. I know you're going to ask.

[Speaker 1] (11:04 - 11:04)

I was going to ask.

[Speaker 2] (11:05 - 11:10)

Of course it's on sale. $900 is the normal price. It's down to $699.99. Heck yeah.

[Speaker 1] (11:10 - 12:15)

Merry Christmas, everybody. That's right. Talking subwoofers, I'm going to move into the world of car audio.

We got some car subwoofers from Alpine with a pretty good deal going right now. These are the Alpine Prismalink S2 Series subwoofers. These are pretty cool boxes because they are already made by Alpine with the subwoofer already in them and lights on them.

RGBW lighting. So you can make them show up in any color you want. You can get the sub as an eight-inch, a 10-inch, a 12-inch, ranging from 400 to 500 bucks.

And these Alpine subs are going to sound amazing. I mean, they're Alpine. They will look great with the lights.

You don't have to match the box to the sub because Alpine already did that for you. And here's the deal. Right now, Alpine is giving you a free 200-watt amplifier with these subs.

Free? Free. Yes.

It's a great deal. You don't have to go match up the power to the sub. If you're trying to get a subwoofer for somebody, you can get them this, knowing that you're getting them everything they need to have some bass in their car.

Nice.

[Speaker 2] (12:15 - 13:01)

Yeah. All right, Huffy, you're up. So far, we've talked about bass at home, bass in your car.

What if you want to keep that music a little bit closer to home, like just for your own ear holes? So yeah, we got to talk some headphones. Headphones.

Yes. And a name that is synonymous with high-quality headphones, Sennheiser. Oh, yeah.

So they got a new product. So the Sennheiser HDB630. So these headphones have been getting crazy good reviews.

This is a basic multi-purpose Bluetooth headphone that is set up wonderfully for traveling. It comes with a travel case and everything you'd expect if you wanted to have an amazing set of headphones for hitting the road. So these guys, wonderful noise cancellation.

[Speaker 1] (13:01 - 13:02)

Nice.

[Speaker 2] (13:02 - 13:17)

I was lucky enough to try them out for a while. Got them at my desk right now. Really?

Yes, I do. And they are phenomenally comfortable. They're coming from a bald man.

So if I say they're comfortable, I mean it because I feel things that other people don't feel when it comes to headphones.

[Speaker 1] (13:18 - 13:20)

As another bald man, I can concur.

[Speaker 2] (13:20 - 13:45)

There you go. So phenomenal noise cancellation. Wonderful sounding.

Of course, that's important. The latest Bluetooth technology, which lends itself to be able to do cool things that allow multiple Bluetooth headsets to get off one signal. That's pretty cool.

And yeah, from Sennheiser. So these things have been so hot. We got our first shipment in.

They sold out.

[Speaker 1] (13:46 - 13:50)

And we've already got a bunch of pre-orders in the system for our next shipment.

[Speaker 2] (13:50 - 13:57)

Yeah, I've been assured we're going to get plenty of them by the holidays. So get your back order in now. That way they can ship to you before the big day.

[Speaker 1] (13:57 - 14:23)

Yeah, you can order stuff now on Crutchfield, even if it's not in stock. And you'll be next in line to get it when it comes back into stock. And if the price goes down after you buy it, we'll make sure you're taken care of with the difference as well.

Heck yeah. Price protection. Yeah, you actually have 60 days after you buy anything from Crutchfield.

Any time of year, if you see that the price has gone down within 60 days after you bought something, call us. Our customer service department will totally take care of you.

[Speaker 2] (14:23 - 14:33)

That's right. Buy it in November. If it goes cheaper in January, we got you covered.

So yeah, get while the getting's good while stuff is in stock. All right. I got something totally different for you.

Cool.

[Speaker 1] (14:33 - 14:40)

Let's move into the world of cameras. What do you think? I dig it.

Let's talk about the Canon PowerShot Elf 360. Elf. Get it?

[Speaker 2] (14:41 - 14:43)

Perfect for a Christmas gift. I see what you did there.

[Speaker 1] (14:43 - 15:44)

Yeah, thanks. I should have taken that one. So point and shoot cameras are kind of back with the Elf 360.

This is a small 20 megapixel camera with 12 times zoom that reminds me of the days before smartphones took over the world of inexpensive cameras that we could easily carry around with us. I think people might like to have a camera that's not their smartphone, but is still small enough to fit in a backpack, a purse, a pocket. So you can always have it with you.

For a while there, cameras like that were just not much of a thing. But this Canon is exactly that. This camera was just announced back in September and word on the street from our merchandising department, who stays in touch with companies like Canon, is that it's shipping now.

So it should be here soon. I don't know if it'll be out by when we drop this podcast or not, but it is coming soon. I cannot give a specific in stock date.

Just know they're coming soon. And if you're interested in having a convenient point and shoot camera, this is your guy. The new hotness.

[Speaker 2] (15:44 - 15:58)

It's kind of an old school thing. Having something that is made specifically to take pictures that fits in your pocket. I love that.

Better zoom, better lens, better pictures. It's kind of crazy that a digital camera is now a retro product.

[Speaker 1] (15:58 - 16:02)

It does feel like it. But it kind of is, and it's kind of cool. Yeah, I dig it.

I dig it.

[Speaker 2] (16:02 - 16:24)

Speaking of cameras, I would like to talk about the Sony Alpha ZV-E10. Now, this is not a point and shoot. This is a pretty sophisticated camera.

Is this a mirrorless camera? It is a mirrorless camera. So that basically means it has a lot of those features of an older school DSLR, but in a much more compact size.

[Speaker 1] (16:24 - 16:26)

So interchangeable lenses. Yeah.

[Speaker 2] (16:26 - 17:31)

So you've got access to really good, high quality Sony lenses. This camera. Yes, it can take amazing pictures.

What I love about it, though, is it's really set up for, I think it's called vlogging. Vlogging. Vlogging.

That's right. That's right. So, you know, mic inputs.

It can shoot 4K. And, you know, I was reading through all the specs on this thing, and they're impressive and they're long. But can I tell you the one that caught my eye?

Please do. I've been doing this for a while. So I've got a reason behind this.

This thing can record on one charge for 125 minutes. Now, if we think back to when we first started using mirrorless cameras and DSLRs for shooting video, they did not last. No, that was not a thing they could do.

This thing does. So you get all those benefits. Interchangeable lenses, amazing Sony processing and video quality, along with being able to shoot the whole movie, the whole football game, the whole whatever it is you want to shoot.

I think that's awesome. If that's not long enough for your vlog, your vlog is too long. Your vlog is too long.

Also, we sell batteries.

[Speaker 1] (17:31 - 17:32)

Good point.

[Speaker 2] (17:32 - 17:34)

Yes, get an extra battery. That's right.

[Speaker 1] (17:34 - 18:01)

All right. Is it my turn? It's your turn.

All right, my turn. So you and I watch a lot of YouTube videos. We do.

And there's really good ones, and there's also not so great ones. And when I say not so great, I'm not talking about the content. I'm talking about the quality of the audio, the quality of the video.

This is true on TikTok, on YouTube, on Reels, anywhere you go. And I want people to make better video content so I can enjoy better video content at home.

[Speaker 2] (18:01 - 18:03)

Very self-serving, but I like it.

[Speaker 1] (18:03 - 19:23)

So here's the two things I have for you to do that. Make your videos sound better. Get a microphone.

And I suggest the DJI Mic 3. These are little tiny mics that you can clip them on your shirt and make sure that you have a mic close to you, right? When you step away from your camera, your camera's mic can't pick you up.

This one stays with you, gets you great audio, allows you to record that audio into your phone, into a DJI camera, into just itself. It has a little receiver. It's so flexible.

It's crazy. And it's small, and it's lightweight, and it's just a no-brainer if you're making videos. Make them sound good.

Makes sense to me. You should also make them look good. So if you're just using your phone in your hand, your videos do not look as smooth as you want them to.

You can upgrade your camera to fix that. You can also put whatever camera you have, whether it's your phone or a DSLR or a mirrorless camera, put it on a gimbal so that when you're holding it in your hand, your hand movements don't translate to your camera. Tracking shots look better.

Everything looks better when your camera is on a gimbal. And the DJI RS4 Mini is perfect. And it's on sale right now.

Normally $369. On sale for $309. That's one heck of a deal.

It's the DJI RS4 Mini.

[Speaker 2] (19:23 - 19:45)

There's also a combo that comes with a tracker. So picture this, if you will, right? Okay.

You've got your phone or your camera. Or your Sony ZV-E10 vlogging camera. That's right.

Yeah. That's right. So you've got that mounted.

You've taken a couple steps back, but now you can have it frame yourself in automatically with this little tracker.

[Speaker 1] (19:45 - 19:48)

So it moves with you as you move around the frame.

[Speaker 2] (19:48 - 20:07)

It does. So it's got this cool feature called gesture control, where basically you can control it and frame it in when you're standing four or five feet back, 10 feet, depending on your lens situation. So with the combo of that mic you were talking about, right?

Yeah. This camera that we were talking about, right? And now this gimbal.

[Speaker 1] (20:08 - 20:08)

Okay.

[Speaker 2] (20:08 - 20:23)

Basically, you can be your own studio. Like you've got everything you really need to shoot all kinds of crazy good content. You just eliminated the entire camera crew.

Well, that wasn't my intention. Well, they can hold it too. Yeah, they can still be part of it.

[Speaker 1] (20:23 - 20:24)

Sure. You know what?

[Speaker 2] (20:24 - 20:27)

They can get on camera. Yes. Make them part of the show.

[Speaker 1] (20:27 - 20:33)

That's right. So the combo includes the tracker. How much is the combo?

And is it on sale too?

[Speaker 2] (20:34 - 20:52)

So normally about $460 on sale for the holidays, $389.99. That's only $20 more than the DJI RS4 Mini normally without the combo. Exactly. And then you don't even need friends to shoot your videos.

It'll do it all for you. That's a no brainer.

[Speaker 1] (20:53 - 22:25)

All right. Let's move back into the car and talk about Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, right? You've probably rented a vehicle or been in a friend's vehicle, or maybe your other vehicle has it.

And maybe you have a vehicle that doesn't have it. Maybe it's older. Maybe it's a vehicle you're giving to your kid or something.

And you want to add CarPlay and Android Auto. This used to be like a $600 thing. Now it can be much less than that.

And CarPlay, Android Auto, it is the safest way to use your phone while you're driving for texting and talking without having the phone in your hands, right? You can do it all hands-free. And you can get it in a name brand radio.

You don't have to go with those janky radios you'll find on other websites that are questionable at best. Go with a nice JVC radio that has both CarPlay and Android Auto. We don't care what kind of phone you have for less than $300.

This is the JVC KWM590BT. It is also on sale right now, normally $350. $249, $100 off right now.

Plus, you can get 50% off two pairs of JVC speakers when you buy them with the radio. And if you're not sure if this fits your car, if that part of it scares you off, don't worry. That's what we do.

It probably does fit your car. Just put your car into the website to find out or give us a call, chat with us. Let one of our advisors help you get the right radio for you.

And hopefully it's this one because it's a great deal. Nice. Got a JVC in my truck.

I love it.

[Speaker 2] (22:25 - 22:29)

I just installed a JVC in my girlfriend's car. She loves it. There you go.

[Speaker 1] (22:29 - 22:29)

Yes.

[Speaker 2] (22:32 - 22:37)

So you got this cool radio in your car now, right? Yeah. Yeah.

Maybe you have your gimbal in the back seat.

[Speaker 1] (22:37 - 22:38)

Uh-huh.

[Speaker 2] (22:38 - 23:05)

Yeah, right. Maybe a new camera, maybe some headphones. Yeah.

You've bought everything on our list so far, right? And it's all in your back seat of your car. Might be a good idea to protect that a little bit, right?

So just lock your car, right? Well, yes, you should do that. But what if I told you it's a really cool device?

And you know this, you've seen the notes, but just go with me here. Okay. All right.

A easy to install car alarm. Wait, that's not possible. There's no such thing.

[Speaker 1] (23:05 - 23:09)

I know. Like car alarms are not easy to install. There's a lot of wires.

[Speaker 2] (23:09 - 23:25)

One of the most complicated things, honestly, we sell. They really, really are, right? Yeah.

We have a whole team of specialists. I can't believe you're putting a car alarm on this list. I know.

We're putting a car alarm on this list, but one just about anybody can install. That's a bold statement.

[Speaker 1] (23:25 - 23:25)

I know.

[Speaker 2] (23:26 - 23:48)

Back it up. What we're talking about here is the Keep Car Alarm from Keep Technologies. You keep saying keep.

Is that the brand name? It is. And it's also the name of the car alarm itself.

And it just slides right into your cup holder and plugs right into your OBD port. Oh, yeah. The OBD2 port?

Yeah. Well, yeah. Not the one.

[Speaker 1] (23:48 - 23:50)

Yeah. Obviously. Not that one.

[Speaker 2] (23:50 - 23:51)

The two.

[Speaker 1] (23:51 - 23:51)

Yeah.

[Speaker 2] (23:51 - 23:53)

The two plugs right in.

[Speaker 1] (23:53 - 23:54)

The sequel is much better.

[Speaker 2] (23:54 - 24:10)

That's right. So this is basically a car alarm that can plug into just about any car and super simple to do. Don't worry.

There's still room for your cups, right? But basically it looks like a cup holder. So it goes in the cup holder.

Goes in the cup holder. Looks like a cup holder.

[Speaker 1] (24:10 - 24:11)

Goes in the cup holder. It is a cup holder.

[Speaker 2] (24:11 - 24:12)

It is. It is. That's right.

[Speaker 1] (24:12 - 24:14)

And it connects to your OBD2 port.

[Speaker 2] (24:14 - 24:42)

It does that. And then once you've done all that, what does it do? Well, it does car alarm stuff, right?

So there's sirens. It makes super loud noises if there's a disturbance. But also it's smart.

It'll alert your phone to let you know something's happened as well. So installs easy, has all the cool features that the most sophisticated ones have these days. And really, it's a bargain.

And you know who else loves it? Not just us. You know who else loves it?

Who? Shaquille O'Neal. That's right.

[Speaker 1] (24:42 - 24:45)

Well, I mean, then it's got to be good.

[Speaker 2] (24:45 - 24:46)

You know it's good.

[Speaker 1] (24:46 - 24:48)

He wouldn't just endorse anything.

[Speaker 2] (24:48 - 24:55)

No. And he has a history with law enforcement. That's his jam.

So if he backs it, I back it.

[Speaker 1] (24:56 - 25:26)

So I'm trying to picture this, right? It's in my cup holder. Somebody breaks a window.

They get in my car. They unlock the doors, open the doors. Yeah, bad person.

My car, through the OBD-II port, tells this thing, hey, something bad is happening. Yeah, noises are going off. It's flashing lights and noises.

It's also recording video, right? Yes, yes. I did not mention that, did I?

And it's letting me know that my car is being broken into on my phone and live alerts. Your lights are even flashing. Okay.

[Speaker 2] (25:26 - 25:52)

That's all done through the car. That's pretty sweet. Yeah, absolutely.

This has to cost a boatload of money. Well, I mean, normal car alarms are like $500, $600. But then you got installation.

They can get up there, right? $299. $299?

That's a bargain. I'd pay that. Yeah.

So it does work with your cell service. So because of that, there is a subscription. It's $10 a month, but it comes with 30 days free to get you going.

[Speaker 1] (25:52 - 26:03)

That makes sense. Yeah. Yeah.

Awesome. Oh, oh gosh. Guess what's next?

I couldn't be more excited about this. Oh. We're finally there.

[Speaker 2] (26:03 - 26:03)

Yeah.

[Speaker 1] (26:04 - 26:08)

This entire show exists so that we can talk about this next product.

[Speaker 2] (26:08 - 26:17)

Yes. Yes. I relish that we're going to talk about it next.

I hope I'm not trying to get cheesy here. We're finally to the meat of the episode.

[Speaker 1] (26:17 - 26:18)

Yes.

[Speaker 2] (26:19 - 26:19)

Hurry up.

[Speaker 1] (26:19 - 26:37)

We don't have to play catch up at the end. Mayonnaise is a lot of products in this episode. And this next one is the AT, which stands for Audio Technica.

SB, which stands for Sound Burger 727. I have no idea what that part means.

[Speaker 2] (26:37 - 26:39)

It probably means it came after the 726.

[Speaker 1] (26:39 - 27:19)

It's called the Sound Burger. Now, this was a big deal back in the eighties when they first released this portable turntable. They re-released it in 2022.

It's sold out like worldwide. It's back. The Audio Technica Sound Burger is battery powered, portable, Bluetooth turntable.

It also has an analog output to keep the music completely analog when connecting it to your friend's stereo or whatever stereo. And you can plug it into any set of RCA inputs except for the phono ones because it has a phono preamp built in. I had this.

I've got it. I unboxed it and had music playing in like two and a half minutes.

[Speaker 2] (27:19 - 27:19)

Yeah.

[Speaker 1] (27:20 - 27:33)

And I was impressed. And I told our merchandising department, please bring them in. We need to sell these.

I can think of three people I want to give them to as Christmas gifts. And they said yes. And that was just like a week ago.

[Speaker 2] (27:33 - 27:49)

Yeah, I think it's really cool. I love that it's from Audio Technica. This is the brand that does turntables.

This is their jam, right? This isn't some knockoff piece. It's fun.

It looks like a toy. It's kind of a toy, but like in the coolest possible way. But it's made by a brand you can trust when it comes to turntable design.

[Speaker 1] (27:49 - 28:40)

I know what they're doing. This is not for the audiophile vinyl listener, right? This is for the audiophile vinyl listeners, 13-year-old kid who wants to get into listening to vinyl themselves.

And you don't want to spend a ton of money on a great system until they know how to take care of records and all of that. And plus, they're kids. They want Bluetooth.

They want to take it with them. They want to go listen in the park with their friends. So this allows that.

Heck yeah. Are they in stock as this episode drops? I don't know.

Are the pages live on our website? Probably. If they're not, they will be very soon.

Can you call and ask an advisor about them and have them place an order for it right now, no matter what? Yes, you can. We've got them coming in.

They're going to be in black and yellow. Those are the two colors that will be available for $199. And I'm pretty excited.

You know what would go well with the SoundBurger, Huffy? Well, you need a speaker. A Bluetooth speaker.

[Speaker 2] (28:40 - 29:22)

Yeah. And we just happen to be at that point on the list where you have a Bluetooth speaker to talk about. I do.

So JBL, right? They've been making Bluetooth speakers for years, right? They consistently punch above their weight class when it comes to Bluetooth speakers.

And the JBL Grip for $99.95 is no exception to that. So picture, if you will, it's about the size of like a seltzer can, right? It's got a built-in flashlight.

So compact. It's rugged. It's waterproof.

The battery lasts for up to 14 hours. This thing would be amazing for camping, hitting the river, going tubing, or pairing up with your SoundBurger for hours of playback.

[Speaker 1] (29:23 - 29:49)

Yeah. I mean, has it ever been possible to go camping and enjoy listening to vinyl on your Bluetooth speaker, right? And then, you know, you get up from the campfire to go grab a snack out of the cooler.

And you don't want to turn on the big lantern and ruin everybody's night vision. So you just grab the speaker, turn on the flashlight, go get your snack, get back to the campfire. And the music continues playing.

Camping just got really fun.

[Speaker 2] (29:49 - 30:35)

It really did. This thing comes in all kinds of fun colors. So whatever color is your jam, you got ones to pick from.

So if only there was one that was like in camouflage. Oh, yeah. You might lose it though.

Oh, wait, but there is one in camo. I almost didn't see it there because it was in camo. I'm going to get you the red one.

I think that's probably for the best. I need high visibility. I think that's perfect.

All right. We got one more product left with me. And it's on my list.

It is on your list. Yes. All right.

The last item is the Cala Red Light Face Mask. So when I first saw this on our website, I'm like, Ooh, well, that's unique. That's different.

But this thing has some cool technology, right? Yeah. And most of our products, you don't wear them on your entire face.

We have things you wear on your head, right?

[Speaker 1] (30:35 - 30:35)

Right.

[Speaker 2] (30:36 - 31:05)

But not on your face. And this covers your face, but there's some pretty cool things. It helps fight acne.

It helps with anti-aging, with the wrinkles. Not saying that you need one of these, JR. But I'm not saying you wouldn't benefit in some ways from maybe getting one. And great news.

It's on sale. Oh, good. Because I was thinking of getting you one of these for Christmas.

Oh, I figured you might say that.

[Speaker 1] (31:05 - 31:07)

And we get a discount on them, right?

[Speaker 2] (31:07 - 31:14)

So our price is really good. Well, then maybe you get me two. I don't know what I'd do with the second one.

That would be a little silly. But I'll take it.

[Speaker 1] (31:14 - 32:41)

And everybody gets it at a good price right now for the holidays. Normally, it's $339.99. On sale, $102 off, $237.99. There we go. All right, Huffy, we did it.

We did. That was a lot. If you want more info on any of these cool gift ideas, go to crutchfield.com slash podcast. Look for the links in the show notes for this episode. So what are we doing next? Next month, we would love to finish 2025 answering your questions.

Those of you listening to this show, if you've got questions about anything Crutchfield sells, any technologies behind the products we sell, car installation stuff, home theater setup stuff, camera questions, anything we sell, send us your questions. And if we don't know the answer, we will find the person at Crutchfield that does. Email those questions to podcast at crutchfield.com.

Can't wait. Crutchfield the Podcast is brought to you by none other than Bill Crutchfield himself. This show is hosted by Huffy and JR, recorded right here at Crutchfield HQ in beautiful Charlottesville, Virginia.

We will be back next month to wrap up 2025. So please send us your questions. We'd love to answer them.

Thank you so much for listening. And of course, as always, thank you to Bill for continuing to pay us to talk about the coolest stuff on the planet. Thanks, Bill, and happy holidays.