2025 Tracking Angle Gift Guide!
Our recommendations for music and hifi gifting
It's once again time for Tracking Angle's annual holiday gift guide. Whether it helps you find a perfect gift of music or hi-fi for friends and family, or guides you to a self-indulgent present for yourself, either way you're sure to find a high quality something or other guaranteed to bring happiness and good cheer for the holiday season and throughout the next year.
So here we go!
Technics SL-50C direct drive turntable ($849)
Technics shook up the under-$1000 turntable market with the SL-50C, featuring a built-in phono preamp and Ortofon 2M Red cartridge. The 3-speed SL-50C uses an "SL-1500C grade" single rotor coreless motor with a sophisticated digital speed control system. Technics designed a brand new sliding bearing tonearm for the 50C and the defeatable MM phono preamp is far from a throwaway. Easy to set up out of the box, it offers excellent built quality, impressive speed stability, and a punchy, taut sound. Truly generous gifters will swap out the stylus for a nude elliptical 2M Blue before gift-wrapping. —Michael Fremer
U-Turn Orbit turntable ($249+)
A recurring recommendation here, the U-Turn Orbit is an excellent starter turntable with an overall lack of sonic coloration, exemplary bass performance, and plenty of customization options. Michael Fremer positively reviewed the Orbit Special ($549 without built-in preamp, $629 with preamp), though if you’re looking for a cheaper option, I’d recommend an Orbit Custom adding a cue lever, built-in Pluto 2 phono preamp, and Ortofon 2M Red cartridge upgrade for $454 (I consider the cue lever and cartridge upgrades more important than the acrylic platter in the similarly priced Orbit Plus). —Malachi Lui
Fluance Ri71 powered bookshelf speakers ($500/pair)
The Fluance Ri71 speakers are an excellent starter pair: analog RCA inputs, Class D amplification, DSP enhancement, aptX HD Bluetooth, and bass and treble adjustment. With a pleasing overall timbral balance, these are easy to set up, sonically likable, and manage to fill a relatively large room without audible strain. —ML
Technics AZ-100 earbuds ($300)
Fremer glowingly reviewed the wireless Technics AZ-100 earbuds, so I bought my own pair (at retail price) and can confirm: these $300 earbuds sound excellent. Designed with Technics’ new Magnetic Fluid Driver, the AZ-100’s have definition and texture well beyond what their size would suggest. This has become my go-to portable listening solution, as the case fits in my pocket and I don’t have to deal with cable adaptors that crap out after three months. While the product itself is small, the package it comes in is too big (and expensive) for a stocking, but an excellent, useful gift nonetheless. —ML
Jazz Kissa coffee table book ($140)
A lavish and well-presented coffee table photo book of Japanese jazz kissa as documented by Katsumasa Kusunose, Jazz Kissa takes you through the history of these comforting, dimly lit, proudly anachronistic listening spaces. The book is a deluxe experience itself, “a 336-page, highly drool-worthy photo celebration of the jazz kissa phenomenon, printed on specially sourced matte Japanese paper and beautifully bound in embossed hardcover with an obi strip typical of Japanese books and LP covers,” as Jan Omdahl noted in his review. —ML
Teac TA-TS30UN turntable mat ($40)
Another gift guide staple, the Teac TA-TS30UN washi paper turntable mat should be one of the go-to turntable upgrades for anyone stuck with more traditional felt or wool mats. This would pair well with the turntables on this list, or as a gift for someone who already has an “entry level” turntable but hasn’t upgraded it past stock components. The sound immediately expands with the Teac mat, and while they’ve raised the price since we last featured it, for $40 it’s still the most cost effective, low effort turntable upgrade on the market. —ML
Little Fwend tonearm lifter ($249+)
These are not the least expensive end-of-record tonearm lifters, but in my experience, they are by far the best made and most reliable—now made of stainless steel with glass bead blasted finishes instead of nickel plated brass. There’s even one specifically made for the latest generation of Technics turntables. And now with input from Micha Huber (HiFiction EMT,Thales) they are newly designed to tighter tolerances and manufactured in Switzerland utilizing precision Swiss-made components. —MF
SSL 2 or 2+ MkII interface ($230-300)
Sure, I have a turntable setup costing thousands of dollars, but for digital playback from my computer? I rely on the compact $300 SSL 2+ interface as my DAC. It’s an honest sounding 192kHz DAC that tells me what a file sounds like, and the headphone output is also solid. I haven’t heard the MkII version, but if it’s anything like the original, expect it to be very good. While its A/D functionality isn’t perfect (good sound but the inputs aren’t stepped so it’d be hard to use it as a stereo A/D converter), it’s absolutely one of the best budget DACs for any application, whether a full system or a headphone-based desktop setup. The MkII unfortunately doesn’t have the RCA outputs of the original, but you or your recipient can easily get 1/4” to RCA adaptors if necessary. —ML
Nick Drake - The Making of ‘Five Leaves Left’ 4LP box set ($122)
“Unlike most multi-disc deluxe sets containing every snippet of recorded tape that you might listen to once out of curiosity and never revisit, this thoughtfully curated set covering Nick Drake's Five Leaves Left is one that bears repeated listening,” wrote Michael Fremer of The Making of ‘Five Leaves Left’, a 4LP or 4CD box set of the tragically short-lived singer-songwriter’s 1969 debut. Featuring home demos, studio outtakes, the remastered album, and a 60-page book with “absolutely essential” annotation, the previously unreleased material is mesmerizing and “will draw you into a trance-like state” with you-are-there sonic presence. —ML
Carl Perkins - Dance Album of Carl Perkins all-analog LP ($40)
It’s the 70th anniversary of “Blue Suede Shoes” so you can do anything you want but don’t not buy (for others or yourself) this classic record cut from the original mono analog master tapes and sounding vital and “in the room”. It’s got the title tune of course plus “Honey Don’t,” “Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby,” and “Matchbox” among other tunes Ringo and Paul still dig. Cut by Kevin Gray at CoHEARent Audio and pressed at Gotta Groove with great annotation by Colin Escott. —MF
Frank Sinatra - In The Wee Small Hours Tone Poet reissue ($40)
A landmark recording in pop music history, Blue Note’s Tone Poet series dug into the Capitol vaults and reissued Frank Sinatra’s In The Wee Small Hours, cut directly from a set of pristine parallel master tapes. Compared to all previous editions, Paul Seydor observed “greater transparency, dynamic range, openness, and lifelike presence, plus fractionally more air and room presence around and among Sinatra and the players” in a package that “radiates class all the way: tip-on gatefold presentation, good notes, vintage photographs, beautifully reproduced original cover, and pristine 180-gram vinyl.” —ML
UberLight Frame LED light ($429)
The original UberLight—the one with the infinitely flexible gooseneck available in clamp ($79) and round base ($139) models— quickly became both an audiophile favorite at home and ubiquitous at audio shows. So popular and cost effective that you probably have one. The new Frame Light is considerably more expensive ($429) but it’s also far more elegant and user-friendly. It includes both round base and clamp accessories, has a remote control so from your seat you can change color temperature and intensity or turn it on and off. The remote, which recharges tucked into the frame, includes a flashlight. The light angles within the frame and the fixture rotates, giving you a wide range of physical settings. It’s got to be good looking ‘cause it’s so hard to see. —MF
Because Sound Matters / Interscope Definitive Sound One-Step pressings ($100-125)
Warner’s Because Sound Matters one-step vinyl reissues made our list last year, but reissue producer Tom Biery’s release selection this year (and his expansion to Interscope for their Definitive Sound Series) has been so excellent that it deserves another mention. Every title in these series is by noticeable distance the best that the respective album has ever sounded, including Dr. Dre’s The Chronic, the first hip-hop album to get this sort of ultra-deluxe audiophile treatment. And see below for a specifically festive recommendation from this series. —ML
Nat King Cole - The Christmas Song Definitive Sound Series One-Step vinyl ($100)
Nat’s rendition of Mel Tormé’s “The Christmas Song” (co-written with Bob Wells) is the “gold standard” edition. Everyone knows and loves it. The song was written for him! It’s been streamed more than a billion times, I was told by Definitive Sound Series producer Tom “Grover” Biery, and I believe him! But before that, the song on record had been a perennial huge seller as has been this album, which has never been out of print and is a 6x Platinum best seller. What makes it special, aside from the title tune are the incredibly hokey by today’s standards Ralph Carmichael arrangements for two orchestras and three choral groups of the combination of Euro-centric religious and generic pre-20th century Christmas songs—Nat sings “O-Tannebaum” in German, which he did not speak. If you’re of a certain age, hearing this album will bring you back to your 1950s era childhood Christmases—even if you’re Jewish like Mel or Irving Berlin (“White Christmas”) or Johnny Marks (“Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer”, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”) or Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn (“Let It Snow! Let it Snow! Let It Snow!”)— the era had its special incandescent and bubbling oil lights, foil tinsel, television specials in “living color,” even advertising that hearing this album will re-cast in your head. And youngsters can get a taste of that time. The crosses burned on the front lawn of his Hancock Park home were not part of the Christmas cheer! Yet look at the smiling Nat in the photo. What a mensch! This one-step was cut by Chris Bellman directly from the 3-track original master tape before the reverb glare was added behind the strings and around Nat’s voice. And there are two extra tunes not found on the standard SW 1967 issue or the original (S)W 1444 titled The Magic of Christmas, “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” and “Oh Come All Ye Faithful”. Like all DSS one-steps, this was pressed on Neotech VR900-D2 vinyl at RTI. It’s limited to 3000 numbered copies and comes in an attractive red holiday-appropriate slipcase and it’s not marred by a barcode. For Scrooges unwilling to spend $100 on an heirloom edition intended to be passed down through the analog loving generations, there’s also a new $39.98 Vinylphyle edition cut by the very talented Joe Nino-Hernes at Sterling Sound from the two-track master tape. He’s done an excellent job and it sounds great—better than the original though it's not quite as eerily “Nat’s standing and singing directly in front of you” like the one-step, and the strings aren’t as supple and luscious (etc). But in fact, the gatefold jacket appears to be one generation closer to the original artwork compared to the one-step and it features three charming photos of Nat with Natalie, which is two more than the one-step, plus it has absolutely essential (for anyone who truly loves this record) annotation by James Ritz. So if you’re spending $100, why not spend another $39.98? And for a few bucks more you can get some rocks to throw at me for making that suggestion. —MF
ALSO HIGHLY GIFTABLE: Qobuz hi-res streaming subscription, Ramar record brush, Audio-Technica Sound Burger portable turntable, and anything else on our previous gift guides!
