What the Tech? Father’s Day gift ideas

(ABC 6 News) – Looking for something special for your special dad or granddad? It’s June 18th and now’s the time to start looking. The most popular gift category this year? Electronics. Hey, dads love gadgets. Here are a few tech gadgets sure to make some dads very happy.

One of the best gadgets a dad can have is something he probably never thinks about. A high-quality surge protector for his big-screen television and audio system.

Did you know that surge protectors should be replaced every few years? Even more frequently for cheap ones that cost less than $10. Each time you have a blackout, the surge protector takes the hit for your big-screen TV. After taking those hits for a couple of years, all power strips won’t protect your TV. Austere surge protectors have multiple AC outlets and fast-charging USB-C plugs. Two outlets are specifically designed to protect big-screen TVs and two for audio equipment such as surround sound systems, though you can use them for anything that needs protecting from power surges. Austere surge protectors replace the outlet cover and mount flush against the wall and look nice too.

Surround sound systems are great, but for dad or granddad have trouble hearing what people on TV are saying, just making the sound louder doesn’t work. The ZVOX soundbars make movie dialogue easier to hear and understand. Rather than just increasing the volume, these sound bars can lower the sound of background music and special effects and isolate what the actors are saying and make it easier to understand. You can control how much of the background sound you want to hear. They also have surround sound capability for when sound effects are not a problem.

Vinyl records and turntables are retro no more as people of all ages are spinning stax of wax again. Audio Technica turntables are a good entry point into vinyl listening. These start at around $100 though Audio-Technica has high-end turntables as well.

For higher-end audiophiles, Marley’s ‘Stir It Up‘ turntable is a statement piece made from bamboo that looks as good as it sounds. Some turntables like this one have built-in Bluetooth so they can listen over headphones, earbuds, or a wireless speaker and can connect to a computer if they want to add their record collection to iTunes or a flash drive for listening in the car or on their phone.

If they already have an old turntable, the new ones have many more features. And if they have one, you can buy music from their favorite artists for birthdays, Christmas, and next Father’s Day.