D1 Lotus Vs. Marquis Epic

[MarkWindsurfer]

Hi all,

I have been in the search process for about 6 weeks and thought I would post my experience and seek some advice. I am 6'-2" and looking for a therapy spa that will fit me -- not a social spa in particular. I have wet tested:

Marquis -- Epic and Reward

Hot Springs -- Vista and Grandee

Master and East End

Sunddance -- Optima

D1 -- Ch2 and today the Amore' Bay

So I have wet tested plenty! -- Many of these are good, but most don't fit me -- the neck jets hit my shoulder blades - Sunddance despite 37.5 depth and Hot Springs. Though they are both well made.

East End gave a great massage but was scary under the hood -- and I would not buy one based on the reports in this forum.

Marquis Epic is very nice.

Pros: I like the lounger comfort - it is much more upright due to leg well making it closer to a captain's seat with no float - but shoulders are out of the water. Clean design, very well engineered, well known by other dealers for great maintenance record. 2 speeds on pumps is nice. Certainly a very good SPA. Good massage if you move around to all of the stations. Great leg massage on lounger.

Cons: -- I think that it is somewhat underpowered with 2 pumps and you have to move all kinds of deflectors to get power to a zone -- only to change it all around to get another spot -- i.e., low back versus upper back. I think that if they went to 3 pumps - and dumped the "tri-zone" it would help alot. Also, it doesn't come standard with spinner jets that I think are very good for a better massage. All major brands have gone to circ pumps, but not Marquis as they clain that circ pump are a big maintenance issue. Finally, there is only one dealer in my entire area - a very nice guy -- very helpful, etc but I worry what would happen if I needed service or parts and he was out of town or out of business.

Tonight I wet tested D1 Amore' since the Lotus was dry. Eval of Amore' Bay:

Pros: The jet power is very nice -- a much stronger massage than others and with many spinners. It is 40" deep, which combined with the adjustable neck pillow I can finally fit in and keep my shoulders in the water without slouching. It has 3 jet pumps and requires almost no diverters. Captain's seat instead of lounger is very comfortable and lots of jets for excellent therapy. Certainly a more modern looking design. Uses circ pump and silver+ozone (rather than intermittent filtering with bromine). White plastic shell is very comfortable. Biggest SPA dealer in area, clearly lots of traffic and other D1 dealers in area -- so getting service and parts should be no problem.

Cons: One speed on jets is unfortunate.

Here are some of additional concerns about the D1:

1. Maintenance record of neck pillow -- some people saw that they break, hoses dry out and crack, and are generally clunky.

2. Maintenance record of sequence -- seems like a gimmick that could be a long term issue.

3. Maintenance record of circ pump and Gecko controller -- Marquis dealer says he used to sell them but they became a big maintenance headache -- so gave up on D1.

I wanted to wet test the Lotus but it is dry. They had already filled a Ch2 for me and I found it too small -- so at first they were not that keen on filling another model for me, but called me tonight to offer to fill the Lotus.

Price difference is minimal -- both about $9500.

Sooooo, has anyone else compared the Lotus and Marquis and have some comments.

My plan is to wet test D1 Lotus -- if I don't like it as much as I think, I would buy the Marquis. If I do like the D1, I remain concerned about the issues I raised.

Any thoughts -- anyone else compared Marquis with D1 Lotus Bay? All comments are welcomed!!

thanks for the great posts and advice!!!

[thestallion]

Hi all,

I have been in the search process for about 6 weeks and thought I would post my experience and seek some advice. I am 6'-2" and looking for a therapy spa that will fit me -- not a social spa in particular. I have wet tested:

Marquis -- Epic and Reward

Hot Springs -- Vista and Grandee

Master and East End

Sunddance -- Optima

D1 -- Ch2 and today the Amore' Bay

So I have wet tested plenty! -- Many of these are good, but most don't fit me -- the neck jets hit my shoulder blades - Sunddance despite 37.5 depth and Hot Springs. Though they are both well made.

East End gave a great massage but was scary under the hood -- and I would not buy one based on the reports in this forum.

Marquis Epic is very nice.

Pros: I like the lounger comfort - it is much more upright due to leg well making it closer to a captain's seat with no float - but shoulders are out of the water. Clean design, very well engineered, well known by other dealers for great maintenance record. 2 speeds on pumps is nice. Certainly a very good SPA. Good massage if you move around to all of the stations. Great leg massage on lounger.

Cons: -- I think that it is somewhat underpowered with 2 pumps and you have to move all kinds of deflectors to get power to a zone -- only to change it all around to get another spot -- i.e., low back versus upper back. I think that if they went to 3 pumps - and dumped the "tri-zone" it would help alot. Also, it doesn't come standard with spinner jets that I think are very good for a better massage. All major brands have gone to circ pumps, but not Marquis as they clain that circ pump are a big maintenance issue. Finally, there is only one dealer in my entire area - a very nice guy -- very helpful, etc but I worry what would happen if I needed service or parts and he was out of town or out of business.

Tonight I wet tested D1 Amore' since the Lotus was dry. Eval of Amore' Bay:

Pros: The jet power is very nice -- a much stronger massage than others and with many spinners. It is 40" deep, which combined with the adjustable neck pillow I can finally fit in and keep my shoulders in the water without slouching. It has 3 jet pumps and requires almost no diverters. Captain's seat instead of lounger is very comfortable and lots of jets for excellent therapy. Certainly a more modern looking design. Uses circ pump and silver+ozone (rather than intermittent filtering with bromine). White plastic shell is very comfortable. Biggest SPA dealer in area, clearly lots of traffic and other D1 dealers in area -- so getting service and parts should be no problem.

Cons: One speed on jets is unfortunate.

Here are some of additional concerns about the D1:

1. Maintenance record of neck pillow -- some people saw that they break, hoses dry out and crack, and are generally clunky.

2. Maintenance record of sequence -- seems like a gimmick that could be a long term issue.

3. Maintenance record of circ pump and Gecko controller -- Marquis dealer says he used to sell them but they became a big maintenance headache -- so gave up on D1.

I wanted to wet test the Lotus but it is dry. They had already filled a Ch2 for me and I found it too small -- so at first they were not that keen on filling another model for me, but called me tonight to offer to fill the Lotus.

Price difference is minimal -- both about $9500.

Sooooo, has anyone else compared the Lotus and Marquis and have some comments.

My plan is to wet test D1 Lotus -- if I don't like it as much as I think, I would buy the Marquis. If I do like the D1, I remain concerned about the issues I raised.

Any thoughts -- anyone else compared Marquis with D1 Lotus Bay? All comments are welcomed!!

thanks for the great posts and advice!!!

They are both very good spas. The zones on the Marquis are all targeted with a 160GPM of water flow ( 160 Gallons of water per mintue)....there is no other spa on the market that has this kinda flow to such a targeted area of your body but the trade off with so much water to only one area is that you have to work those areas one at time or do what other tubs do and that is have smaller jets that you can have more running at once. I will tell you this most people after having the spa love the more comfortable and deeper therapy you get with the Marquis but you have to decide if it is right for you. By the way you can spilt the zones and run two at zones at one time. Again both are very good spas that would be a great choice.

[Markee]

The Marquis HK40 jets are designed to be low pressure, but have an extremely high flow rate, so they're going to feel different from most of the spas you wet test. The advantage of this type of jet is that it allows you to sit in front of it for long periods of time without getting an itchy feeling where the jet is hitting you. I don't think there is any other jet on the market that can put out 40 gallons per minute.