Hey Robin
I looked at most of the big spa companies out there, sundance which were crazy priced, Master nice looking unit but the store(s) that sold them had a woefully dreadful sales staff, and made me want to leave because i thought i was talking to Napoleon Dynamite!!!! D1 again nice but nutso priced. I did look at a hydro and to be honest at first glance it was not all that bad. I mean its tough to beat their price. Then after sitting in it, very rigid upright seats, and hearing all the problems, i decided to look elsewhere. Del-Val pools and spas of turnersville had both LA and Hydro. The salesmen there explained how and why LA's are better and to be honest LA had everything the "better" companies had as well. But... I really loved the open design and versatility in the seating arrangement. Example: On the Heet's sister tub the Concord, i went back and forth between the two. I loved the lounger on the Heet but i liked the concord's design of either a seat or lounger depending on how i am feeling. I eventually opted for the lounger model..... I didn't go all out on the jets/ports i took the 2nd option. Now in retrospect, maybe my only complaint is that i would have gone for the gatling gun looking jets in the feet position on the lounger. Also, wait till you clean your filters.....you DON"T ......all you do is just throw em in the wash with alittle bleach and detergeant. let em dry and whala!! If your dealer doesn't include an extra set pick up a set and you'll have zero down time. Finally, the 5 yrs parts and labor warranty with a local in-house factory authorized spa technican sealed the deal for me. Well, that and my HEET only cost me 5895.00 !!!!!!! with...ozone, though not UWM, i wish I got that too but anyway, 2nd jet option, LED light,cover, chem pac, delivery to my backyard in the exact spot and finally a SONY am/fm cd player with remote!!!! I couldn't give them my money fast enough!!!Hahaha They were running a spa sale. Now, the ONLY things I would have differently is:
Got more jets on the next size up and Got the UWM thingee, waterfalls would have been cool Hope this helps.