Music and Musical Gear

SOLIS Debuts Impressive, Gorgeous Speakers

2017 was a big year for SOLIS, who debuted a number of attractive, connected, and stellar-sounding speakers.   From portable, smart Bluetooth speakers to gorgeous vacuum tube amplifiers, SOLIS has every audiophile covered. I had the pleasure of testing two of their offerings in my home and came away impressed. Read on to hear about the SO-3000 and the SO-8000.



The Yamaha DTX400K Electronic Drum Set Really Rocks!

We have many musical instruments at our house, but we have always lacked a drum set. My youngest son has begged to learn how to play, so when I had the chance to review the Yamaha DTX400K electronic drum set (MSRP $799), we jumped all over it. I was not sure what to expect, but this thing has blown us away. 





5.1 VIZIO SmartCast Wireless Sound Bar System: Let Your Media Come to Life #ad

This is a sponsored post; we received compensation from VIZIO, but all opinions are the author’s. Last year, VIZIO sent a 2016 VIZIO SmartCast M-Series Ultra HD HDR Home Theater Display for review. We set it up in our bedroom and love it! (Read the review here.) So I was thrilled when VIZIO offered me one of their brand new 36″ 5.1 VIZIO SmartCast Wireless Sound Bar Systems. It is the perfect complement to the display.




Now You Can Truly Act Like a DJ with This New Party Pack

If you are an aspiring DJ but don’t know exactly how to go about starting your quest of being the party starter, you should be checking out a Dj set that will help you out. Hercules, the leader in mobile and professional DJ equipment announced three unique DJ Party Packs to make sure you can always be the life of the party.






Levin-Minnemann-Rudess Announce New Album Coming July 15th, Available for Pre-Order Now!

Back in 2013 the power trio of Tony Levin, Marco Minnemann, & Jordan Rudess released a self-titled album that was a joyous romp for shred-loving musicians, but went much further and deeper. Now they are back with a new album called “From the Law Offices of LEVIN MINNEMANN RUDESS”, due out on July 15th and available for pre-order! In my review I described their first album as: “a powerhouse onslaught of uncompromising instrumental joy. Throughout the album there are tastes of prog rock from the 70s, 80s, and 90s as well as fusion, metal and pretty much every other hard-driving…



Libratone ZIPP MINI Is a Great-Sounding Reboot of One of My Favorite Speakers

The Libratone ZIPP was one of my all-time favorite speakers. It looked great, sounded amazing, and let you customize the look with exchangeable covers. With portable AirPlay it was as close to the perfect speaker for an iOS-user as you could find. Now Libratone has rebooted the ZIPP and they are offering the smaller, and less expensive, Libratone ZIPP MINI. The new Libratone line has a new look. It’s more curvy than before and has a zipper that runs around the circumference of the speaker, rather than running vertically as it did with the original. The ZIPP MINI has an…



Raumfeld Stereo M Bookshelf Speakers: For Those Who Love to Rock!

There’s a new player in the high-end U.S. home audio market and they’re gonna blow you away. Raumfeld’s initial stateside offerings are impressive. We’ll be looking at three of their products in this series of reviews. First up are the oh so impressive Raumfeld Stereo M Bookshelf Speakers. These speakers get seriously loud and sound great at all volumes. The Raumfeld Stereo M bookshelf speakers feature an award-winning design, easy setup, lossless file support for CD-quality sound, and multi-room streaming functionality. They bring German-engineered audio technology to the U.S. in a way that, I suspect, will gain a tremendous amount…