Sundance Bahia vs TigerRiver Caspian (round1)

[Michigander]

I was trying to compare these two hot tubs to one another.  It seems that my HS dealer feels this is an apples to oranges comparison.  Points of contention:

ABS (TigerRiver) vs Fiberglass (Sundance)
5 year Warranty (TigerRiver) vs 3 yr (Sundance)
Non Programmable clean cycle (TigerRiver) vs 1 hour (4 clean cycles) (Sundance)
2 Rotating jets (TigerRiver) vs 0 (Sundance)

What are peoples opinion about the above features?

Is Firberglass better or worse than ABS?  (just different)

How often do tubs break and when?  1 year out 3 years out  10 years out?

Is a 24 hr circ pump good enough to clean the tub?  Or do the Clean cycles do a better job?

Rotating jets I'm guessing these are personal preferences, but what the heck how important are these to the long term enjoyment?

[Chris_H]

ABS (HS) vs Fiberglass (Sundance) – if you purchase a spa based on a shell you just did a bad thing.  For any manufacturer, the shells, quite honestly, don’t really ever go bad.  Any expert can tell you that.

5 year Warranty (HS) vs 3 yr (Sundance) – Hotspring is obviously better.

Non Programmable clean cycle (HS) vs 1 hour (4 clean cycles) (Sundance) – The Bahia has the clean cycles and the 24 hour circ pump.  The Tiger River just has the circ pump.  Both will keep your water clean.  I think that is the most important aspect.  If your water is clean, do you care which one is better?

2 Rotating jets (HS) vs 0 (Sundance) – If I am not mistaken the Bahia does have rotating jets, and yes this type of jet is of personal preference.

How often do tubs break?  The two manufacturers you are looking at have great reputations.  I would expect both spas to last in upwards of 5-10 years without any major repairs.

I would recommend a wet test for both spas and buy the one that feels better.

I hope that helps and if you have any further questions ask away.

Chris

[Michigander]

I did wet test both of these tubs.  I liked the Caspian somewhat and I like the Bahia more.  My wife like the Bahia somewhat and the Caspian more.  The Caspian is $1500 dollars more than the Bahia. The HS dealer is trying to win the sale and said all of those features are what make up the $1500 difference.  I was just wondering people in the know what their opinion is about the "value" of the features.

And thank you,  I think that was helpful.

If a tub has a 5 year warranty but does not break until year 6 did the warranty matter? (Tree falls in the woods and nobody is around to hear it, did it make a sound?)

If the tub does break then the value proposition is obvious right Lori?

[Spatech_tuo]

I did wet test both of these tubs.  I liked the Caspian somewhat and I like the Bahia more.  My wife like the Bahia somewhat and the Caspian more.  

The warranty certainly accounts for part of the $ difference and typically we'd hope the wet test would make the choice clear but the other half doens't always see it our way. In my case I have it easy as my wife always agrees with what I think. Both are good spas
so its not like we can tell you that the choice should be easy and Spa B is a subpar choice. Take a few days and think it over.

[Bubbles]

5 year Warranty (HS) vs 3 yr (Sundance) – Hotspring is obviously better.

Or I wonder if that represents the additional cost of the spa? hmmmmmm

Hotsprings is longer; not better.

[shabba34]

A happy wife is a happy life

[Brewman]

The Sundance Bahia was until this year known as the Sweetwater Bahia- a value price line of spa's from Sundance.  This year it looks like they renamed the spa's Sundance, but with a 7XX series, vs series 8XX for the traditional Sundance spas- Cameo, Optima, etc.
Part of what makes the Bahia less expensive is the shorter warranty.  You pay for the length of warranty as part of the purchase price.  There are also a few other reasons this spa is lower priced.  The spa itself should be as good quality as the "premuim" Sundances, just not quite as fancy.  Pumps, jets, filter, control panel are different.
Brewman

[Michigander]

This is a good point I should be saying Tiger River and not Hotsprings.

I figured that Tiger River was a step down line for HotSprings and that The Sweetwater (700 series) was a step down line for Sundance.  Hence I thought I was comparing like products.

[golferm]

Two goods tubs.  I've wet tested the Caspian (formerly Siberian) and the Jacuzzi J-365 which is almost identical with better jetting that the Bahia (Jacuzzi is made by the same company as Sundance)

I would definitely test out the 365 as well.  It is a little more comparable jets wise to the Siberian and would come in around the same price as the Bahia IMO.  

Mark

[golferm]

I should add that I believe the Jacuzzi warranty is better than the 700 Series Sundance (Bahia) warranty.

[Lori]

If the tub does break then the value proposition is obvious right Lori?

Yes, you are correct!!!  

[Moon_Madness]

We sell both and the sales ratio is 9 Bahia's to 1 Casbian .

[Chas]

Moon - go away. Your credibility just expired.

As to the thread: the Caspian has interchangable jets, so during your wet test be sure to move them around. If you find that you like them in five different positions, or whatever, be sure to ask the dealer to include three more spinners in the deal.

That's the nice thing about the interchangealbe jets: you can run them open (very mellow), with a straight nozzle (more penetrating) or with the rotary nozzle (more pampering).

[Michigander]

This is the first time I had heard of the interchangeable jets.

Does the Bahia not offer this feature?

[Chris_H]

You should be able to change the majority of the jets.