Hey, I could have just done this the lazy way and posted about the Kohler Fountainhead VibrAcoustic Bath from a press release, but I felt I owed it to our readers to report on this one from my own experience. Fortunately for you, the company has a bathtub set up in a designer showroom in Manhattan called Robert Verdi's Luxe Laboratory. I paid a visit on Friday to see just how relaxing a bath could really be. (To make things rigorous, I decided to bathe without the traditional glass of white wine, chocolate chip cookies, and Us Weekly.)

The concept behind the VibrAcoustic Bath is that sound waves (vibrating through the water) along with choreographed music and LED lighting, and of course, perfect-temperature water, can make for potent relaxation. You can dictate all of these elements with the control panel built into the side of the tub--or if you're too lazy even to lift your arm that far, you can use a remote control. Water fills the tub through an opening in the ceiling, falling in a nearly splashless stream; you can even control the temperature and add more water later, through the control panel.

Kohler's developed four different music programs, along with accompanying underwater vibrations. You can select which one you want to listen to (the music's new-agey and inoffensive; check it out at Kohler's site) and control the volume both above and below water. You also control the brightness of the colorful light.

I tried around 5 minutes of each program, fiddled with the volume, turned the water on and off, and periodically dunked my head underwater. I don't recommend that, by the way; the submarine acoustics were a little overwhelming.

How was the experience overall? Way better than taking a bath in my apartment, for starters; my knees hit my chin, in that tub. And I liked it much more than a jacuzzi, which is usually too hot and too noisy for me. The music was soothing, and the vibrating water was really pleasant. I came in suffering from serious jet-lag, and left feeling much refreshed. If I had an extra (approximately, not including installation) $9,000 to spend and a much bigger bathroom, I'd go for one. And if you do... invite me over? I'll bring the wine!