caobass

Newbie buying advice needed. We live in Minnesota and looking to purchase our first hot tub. Brands we're looking at are Dimension One, Bullfrog, Sundance, Cal spas, Hot springs, maybe Marquis (based on some good suggestions I've seen in these forums). So far we've wet tested Hot Springs and Dimension One. Looked at Sundance (no wet test). Like the vibe of our local Dimension One dealer - they seem like nice, regular guys - no rehearsed hard-sell pitch. And they've been around awhile. We're leaning toward a 7 - 8' open seating tub. We're "wee folk" (all definitely under 6 foot) with two 15 year old boys. We're finding that tubs with a raised center foot area help us stay in our seats better. Also, some of the seats have upper back jets that are a bit too wide for our compact frames - the narrower jet placement seems to be more effective. The D1 Nautilus seems like a nice fit for an 8 footer, but only one seat has upper back jets narrow enough for my wife. The Nautique (7 foot model) looks to have narrower upper back jets and the bonus of four of the adjustable quad-jet neck pillows. Haven't wet tested that yet, but our concern might be that a 7 foot tub get a little crowded for more than 4 people (but maybe that's ok - we're a family of four so if we have guests, take turns). We'll probably try to arrange a wet test. We did wet test the Nautilus, but except for one seat, the upper back jets were placed a little wide. Also wet tested the Meridian, but really missed having the raised center foot area - felt like we were floating away a lot of the time. We haven't done any negotiating, but Nautique pricing out of the gate from our dealer is $8,900 for a 2014 model loaded with lights, water feature and stereo, or $9,800 for a 2015 model with lights and water feature but no stereo. Neither include cover or lift pricing. Do those seem like reasonable prices? Water feature and stereo are not something we'd pay extra for, but if it's a good price for an existing model... Any advice from others out there, especially folks of "smaller stature". We haven't looked at Bullfrog yet, but the interchangeable jetpacks seem like they'd really provide the ability to customize that jet placement, but I assume that comes with a cost attached. Thanks!