Hot Tub Forum
Original => Hot Tub Forum => Topic started by: beaugart_mr on June 08, 2007, 12:38:57 pm
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wow, never knew what a process buying a hot tub could be. I have narrowed it down to four with all being approx the same price (other than the J-345, cheaper). Would love some suggestions on the models I am looking at.
Sundance Chelsee
Hot Springs Vanguard
Jacuzzi j-365 or j-345
I understand it is personal choice, but if there are any goods or bads I would love to hear that...
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We're testing a vanguard tomorrow, I'll give you my impressions later in the week. :)
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wow, never knew what a process buying a hot tub could be. I have narrowed it down to four with all being approx the same price (other than the J-345, cheaper). Would love some suggestions on the models I am looking at.
Sundance Chelsee
Hot Springs Vanguard
Jacuzzi j-365 or j-345
I understand it is personal choice, but if there are any goods or bads I would love to hear that...
Well, on the good side, you've chosen three of the best brands out there.
I bought a version of the Chelsee about eight years ago. It worked perfectly for me, never had a problem. It was easy to maintain, and I loved the main therapy seat. I really liked the foot jets too. The only thing I didn't like was the strength of some of the jets- the therapy seat was GREAT, but we felt that the other seats were somewhat underpowered. I really like strong jets, and I never turned the "venturi" jets on (the ones that mix air into the water), and that may have made a difference. It's a somehwat minor thing, even for us- we're even hopefully buying another Sundance tub soon (maybe even today).
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beaugart,
I have had a j-345 for almost two years. Very happy with it. I think it has a lot of therapy options for the relatively small number of jets. I like the open seating, for a mid-size tub you can squeeze a lot of people in it.
I did have a circulation pump go out a few months ago, but Jacuzzi service was great. They came out when I wanted them to and swapped in a new pump in short order at no cost to me.
How tall are you? My only complaint is that I am 6' tall and have to scrunch down in the seat to get a good massage on my neck (where most of my stress seems to go). This of course is typical except on tubs with specific neck jets placed higher up.
Good luck in your hunt.
Steve
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I think we are close to pulling the trigger on the j-345. We are not tall people...on a good day I am 5'9" and my wife is 5'3" (we have two young children). We are now deciding between last year floor model or this year new one. It looks as I can get the new one out the door (including ozonater, tax, cover lift, delivery, etc) for $6,795. Can I do better?
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Is the foot dome important or foot therapy? I ask because sometimes I think the dome is oversold.
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no. Never had it..but I don't think so. Looks like a nice feature, but not important.
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We have the dome on our Optima. The foot massage jets are nice.
You really can claim that any feature tub A has that tub B doesn't have is oversold.
It's really up to the consumer to decide for themselves. Wet Test.
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I think we are close to pulling the trigger on the j-345. We are not tall people...on a good day I am 5'9" and my wife is 5'3" (we have two young children). We are now deciding between last year floor model or this year new one. It looks as I can get the new one out the door (including ozonater, tax, cover lift, delivery, etc) for $6,795. Can I do better?
I have a 2006 J-345 and absolutely love it. It can't be beat in it's price range imo.
I paid $6095 + tax back in September of '06, so your price seems like a good one!
Here's a pic.(http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r165/tileman_photos/IMG_0016.jpg)
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We have the dome on our Optima. The foot massage jets are nice.
You really can claim that any feature tub A has that tub B doesn't have is oversold.
It's really up to the consumer to decide for themselves. Wet Test.
Agreed.
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I think we are close to pulling the trigger on the j-345. We are not tall people...on a good day I am 5'9" and my wife is 5'3" (we have two young children). We are now deciding between last year floor model or this year new one. It looks as I can get the new one out the door (including ozonater, tax, cover lift, delivery, etc) for $6,795. Can I do better?
I just got our new J-345 today so I am obviously biased...honestly, I would have opted for the J-365 if I could have stomached dropping more $$ than I was already doing. I thought the foot dome looked nice, (nver wet tested it though), the extra set of calf jets were nice as well and the extra room would have been nice. I am 5'10" and my wife says she is 5' ( I think she is really 4'11" so I thought the extra 2 inch depth might be a negative in the 365. I taked myself out of spending the extra grand pretty easily. I paid $6495 for everything but then found out later that everything did not include the lifter as the original rep told me. So they sold me a Cover Mate III for $150 vs. the $299 reg price and installed it today with the tub. Taking that into consideration, you are about $150 over me and Chad thinks to think my price was great. Speaking of him......
Since Chad is showing off his...I wanna do the same :)
(http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t282/Mezster/021.jpg)
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Since Chad is showing off his...I wanna do the same :)
(http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t282/Mezster/021.jpg)
Yeah but mine's filled :P ;D
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Yeah but mine's filled :P ;D
Thats it, go ahead and rub it in! :)
But mine has the cool little lighted cup holders and headrests :) :) :)
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We're testing a vanguard tomorrow, I'll give you my impressions later in the week. :)
We tested the vanguard today. I won't say which jets we did or didn't care for as not to influence your decision. At first I was afraid it was going to be too shallow for me 6'1" and my wife thought it was too deep 5'8" but after we tried different seats and she got a 'booster seat' (especially for the corner seats) the height was fine. The neck jets almost ejected both of us out of our respective seats but after doing some diverting etc things turned out fine.
When I first stepped onto the cool down seat to get in it seemed slippery but after practice that may not be an issue. Other than those items nothing jumped out and grabbed us.
If you look at the Hot Spring web site it talks about $30 down blah, blah this place didn't seem to be taking part in that promo, unless that is only for certain spas.
Happy hunting. :)
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wow, never knew what a process buying a hot tub could be. I have narrowed it down to four with all being approx the same price (other than the J-345, cheaper). Would love some suggestions on the models I am looking at.
Sundance Chelsee
Hot Springs Vanguard
Jacuzzi j-365 or j-345
I understand it is personal choice, but if there are any goods or bads I would love to hear that...
Sounds like your off to a good start. Eveyone will agree that you have selected 3 respectable brands. I don't think I've seen the Chelsee model so I thought I would add a picture of it to the discussion.
(http://www.sundancespas.com/2005Images/700Series/ChelseeBig.jpg)
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I recommend the Vanguard! I've owned mine for 3 weeks now and it is awesome. The moto massage and the neck jets are GREAT!!! Once you figure out the controls you can get an awesome foot massage. The build quality and appearance is top notch. I paid approx $8400 for our tub and that included tax, delivery, steps and cover lifter. I've been using it every evening before bed and it is a very relaxing way to unwind.
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My two cents on foot massages:
My wife and I are on our feet all day. When we used to have a tub (sigh...), we usually went in for an hour or so per soak. We spent the first 15-20 minutes using the back & neck jets, but then turned those off. But we used the foot jets the whole time. We could never get enough of the foot jets. It's like we have a fever, and the cure is more foot jets.
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My two cents on foot massages:
My wife and I are on our feet all day. When we used to have a tub (sigh...), we usually went in for an hour or so per soak. We spent the first 15-20 minutes using the back & neck jets, but then turned those off. But we used the foot jets the whole time. We could never get enough of the foot jets. It's like we have a fever, and the cure is more foot jets.
I agree. I'll bet you can use more cow bell also.
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I agree. I'll bet you can use more cow bell also.
Only when I'm listening to the Blue Oyster Cult. And when I'm Christopher Walken.
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We're looking at the Jacuzzi J-365. Not only is a foot dome important to me for foot therapy (I recently had foot surgery), but also for dividing up the foot space better. I really don't care to play footsie with my brother-in-law when he visits! :-[ I would think the foot dome would be a great way to make people keep their feet to themselves! The other one we're looking at with a foot dome is the Tiger River Capsian, but I think you can seat more adults comfortably in the J-365 over the Caspian. Any thoughts on that?
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We're looking at the Jacuzzi J-365. Not only is a foot dome important to me for foot therapy (I recently had foot surgery), but also for dividing up the foot space better. I really don't care to play footsie with my brother-in-law when he visits! :-[ I would think the foot dome would be a great way to make people keep their feet to themselves! The other one we're looking at with a foot dome is the Tiger River Capsian, but I think you can seat more adults comfortably in the J-365 over the Caspian. Any thoughts on that?
Assuming they both wet test well, when it gets down to 2 spas where one is a bit bigger than the other it typically comes down to how many people are typically going to use it (maybe there are 5 or 6 sometimes but it is going to be 2, 3 or 4 people 95% of the time?) plus all the usual decisions such as what kind of deal can you get, aesthetics, are warranties similar, are you comfortable with either dealer/manufacturer, etc.
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wow, never knew what a process buying a hot tub could be. I have narrowed it down to four with all being approx the same price (other than the J-345, cheaper). Would love some suggestions on the models I am looking at.
Sundance Chelsee
Hot Springs Vanguard
Jacuzzi j-365 or j-345
I understand it is personal choice, but if there are any goods or bads I would love to hear that...
I have had a Jacuzzi J-365 since 2004, Should have bought a Caldera. We bought Jacuzzi because we thought it was a brand name you can trust. Since 2004 we have had to replace the mother board, control panel, heating element and as of today the hot tub is in over heat again and the led lights do not work. Did i mention that i have the beautiful blue acrylic model that the dealer gave me something to clean it with and it stained the finish. I am so disgusted with Jacuzzi that i just want to rip it out and seal up the hole in my deck. I will never buy another hot tub....so disappointed with this hot tub.
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I'm thinking of buying a J-470 Jacuzzi Brand Hot Tub. I spoke to the salesman and it will come with the J-1000 Audio system, cover and cover lifter, stairs, starter kit, delivery and set up. The tentative agreed upon price before tax is $12,700 US Dollars. With tax it will be $13800 out the door and delovered. I was wondering two things.....it this a good quality spa and also is thisa fair price? Thanks in advance.