Arctic Spas "Cub" - opinion and options

[lucky_mike]

We're in the market for a Spa.  Admittedly I didn't know much about them before we started taking trips to various retailers around the area, and since then I've started doing a lot more research.  At the moment, we're leaning towards the Arctic Spas "Cub", a 7x7 spa meant for 5 adults. https://www.arcticspas.ca/arctic-spas/arctic-cub/ 

I like the layout, a "captains" chair, a nice lounger, and plenty of additional space for a few friends.  Doing a bit of research on various spa companies, it seems like for every "Company X is the greatest, excellent customer service, etc" there are two or three "never buy a spa from company X!".  So my dilemma, I don't know what to believe.  

I realize that the dealer who sells you the spa is a significant factor in making your overall experience a great one or a nightmare.  Outside of the "good dealer/bad dealer" factor, I'd love to hear honest experiences with the "Cub" spa, Arctic Spas in general, and perhaps alternative comparables if Arctic is a "no no" for you.

I also have some more specific questions about the spa features, I'll just list them in point form but would love to hear peoples opinions/answers to any/all of them, much appreciated!

• Between the "Prestige", "Signature" and "Legend", is there any difference between them outside the number of jets and pumps?  The dealer lead me to believe that the "legend" automatically came with additional features such as the "Family" lighting system, and even other "optional" features such as EcoPack Spa controls, OnSpa, and No Maintenance Cabinets.  I didn't see anything about this in the literature, and on the quote they wrote "family lighting"... is that something they're just throwing in hoping we'd upgrade to the more expensive model, or does each of the above really include additional features above the lower model?
• EcoPack, OnSpa, Spa Boy.  Are any/all of these worth it?  
• What about the Onzen Salt Water system? I've read mixed things about salt water systems corroding things faster, not being any less maintenance than water+bromine, etc
• What about Peak 1, Peak 2 Ozones?  I've read mixed things about ozone systems being worth it in general
• $11,500 for the cub legend (pre tax, but delivery included) good deal, bad deal, fair price?

Again, greatly appreciate any and all feedback, opinions and experiences.  Of course I will also be returning to the dealership to ask some of these questions directly, but this is a big purchase so want to cover all my bases.  

Edited February 2, 2017 by lucky_mike
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[Jersey Hot Tub Repair]

I've worked on a few Arctic spas and do not like them.  Strange plumbing and non-standard size pipes.  But by the time someone calls us, the Spa is 5-10 years old, so a new model may be completely different than what I work on.  Specifically, the older Arctic spas I worked on used a plumbing that was about 2-1/8 inch in diameter.  Standard piping is 2 inch.  It was a real exercise in screaming, cursing and jury-rigging to repair pinholes in the Arctic plumbing.  Everything is a special order that took weeks to get.

As to your bullet points,:

Lots of shiny new jets looks cool in the store, but there is definitely a diminishing return.  If you've got five seats with 4 jets in the back, 6 in the legs/hips and 3 at the neck and 2 more at your feet, you'd have 75 jets.  How many jets do you need?  It's your personal preference but I can tell you the tub will feel just as good with 75 jets as 100.  And you'd probably be pretty happy with 40 jets also.  Just as a frame of reference, I've seen 20 year old tubs that had 5 jets period.  And the homeowners still love them.

More pumps allow for more jets to be used at a time.  But do you want to spend $12K for the couple of times you will have 5 people in the tub, or spend $7K for a smaller tub that you and your wife will use every week?

"No maintenance cabinets" usually means "plastic."  They might call it "space age polymer,"  but it cracks when you kick it, gets brittle after a few seasons of winter cold and summer heat,  and melts if you lean something hot against it (like a light bulb).

Salt water systems are corrosive.  I just repaired a Jacuzzi this week where the heater was actually perforated by the salt.  It's not give you a salt water pool like you'd have at an ocean resort, it just uses Sodium Chloride to make chlorine through electrolysis. 

I would recommend an ozone system as it cuts down on the amount of sanitizer you'll need to use.

The On-spa and EcoPack look interesting, I haven't worked on them.  Put it this way, do you want your hot tub to talk to the internet?  It's nice to crank up the heat when you leave work so it's hotter when you get home.  I don't know that the EcoPack really gives you anything you need, I've never heard of anyone complaining they couldn't upgrade the firmware in their hot tub.  "Stronger Relay's?"  Sounds hokey to me, but I suppose time will tell.  Then there's the whole skeevy internet fear of Russian computer geeks working out of their basements hacking into your hot tub to disable the safety features and turn the heat up to boiling. 

If Arctic is still using the Gecko SSPA or MSPA pack, anything's better than those - the SSPA pack was intended to be a cheap disposable pack.  Yeah, if you consider $700 to replace a $40 sensor cheap.  Those are both old-technology so I'd avoid them.  Just look under the tub if the salesman can't tell you.

I'm not criticizing Gecko, their newer packs, like the ye.5, are very flexible, inexpensive and we've been getting good results using them.  I've probably retrofitted about 15 spa's with Gecko ye.5 packs in the past year. 

 

[lucky_mike]

Thanks for all this great information ScubaDave!  Excellent point regarding the number of jets, 90% of the time it's just going to be my wife and I in the tub, so it does seem like a waste to spend all that extra money for the rare occasions the tub will actually be filled.  I'll definitely be looking under the tub on my next visit to check if they're using the Gecko SSPA or MSPA, thanks for the tip!

[Foxy]

Arctic Spas are upgradeable at any time so does not matter whether you purchase the prestige ,signature or legend series you can always upgrade to more jets, pumps or features as you like or as new things come out in years to come.Arctic no longer uses Gecko paks in their spas.They started building their own paks which again are upgradeable like phones and computers as new firmware comes out it can be downloaded in your pak through your phone or computer if you went with the wifi option.

As far as salt water systems go we started working on salt water systems in 2006 and introduced Onzen to our Arctic lineup in 2008.Yes we had issues in the beginning but we were persistent and after 5 years we finally perfected the Onzen Salt water System. We did not stop there though as Onzen was still a manual system where you had to set it for how many hours a day you needed it to run to maintain your sanitizer level. Well in 2015 we introduced the upgraded self automated system called Spa Boy that monitors your saunter level and comes on only when needed so no more guess work as to how many hours you need to run it.Also with this system it will let you know if your ph levels are too high or low and will display on your topside controls or you can monitor your levels through your app on your phone through wifi or when you register your spa online you can also monitor from anywhere in the world through cloud on your phone, tablet or computer.Through this app we also have incorporated a power management system especially beneficial for those areas that are now on a smart meter.You can turn off heaters, filtration cycles etc.during peak times so that your spa is not running high using energy items during those times so your power bill will be energy efficient.

Basically our spas are customizable so you can build the spa to your needs but never have to worry one you take delivery that you should of ordered something else as we can always add features right in your back yard.

My suggestion to people is that you take the time to go in the showroom and look under the hood and see the differences inside and out, even the jets as people get confused with quantity of jets and not the actually quality of the jet.