Hot tub design and innovation

[Ewood]

So, I took delivery of my D1 Spas Triad about seven months ago (after recommendation from forum regulars, Thanks!)  While working up a review contrasting the Triad, with the HS Aria (purchased in 2009 after recommended by forum regulars), I thought the topic of tub design invited discussion.

I loved the Aria's Moto massage, although I had a love/hate relationship with the Quartet neck jets that delivered a wide swath of penetrating massage pressure to the cervical spine.  Jet placement on the shell lacked a dedicated anti-splash feature …the absence of which, required me to perform some burdensome floor mopping around the 2 locations of the Quartet-equipped seats, after I’d just finished relaxing.

Why a reverse molded splash guard, or detachable collar-headrest hasn’t been incorporated (or made optional) by every spa manufacturer offering neck jetting …is a mystery to me.  Hot Springs missed an opportunity to demonstrate class-leading innovation, or (at least) obtain parity with the neck jetting solutions utilized by several brands like Artesian or (dare I say it …Master Spas).  

Similarly, a ‘one-neck size-fits-all’ jetting design seems like a primitive compromise, in a market featuring modular jet-pak design. The provision for some vertical adjustability (but, still without splash guard) in D1’s implementation, is a step in the right direction.  We see comments from taller people whom cannot fit beneath a reverse-molded neck jet station.  Ergonomic issues from folks of shorter leg length whom can’t benefit from lounge foot jets, (I’d assume) are persuaded away from those designs, maybe spending less money on a smaller non-lounge tub?

Seems surprising that the industry that provides consumers with ability to alter a seat’s hydrotherapy characteristics by swapping individual jets or BF jet-paks …appears disinterested to accommodate non-standard body length differences.

Somewhat related, was discovery of a product in the Waterway hot tub product catalog: A detachable handheld hose-mounted jet. (Cool! If it fits a jet on the Triad, I’m buying one).  But, why didn’t that appear as an optional feature in D1 promotional stuff?

Kudos to Waterway, for ‘outside the box’ thinking.  Hmm, what else exists that doesn’t get advertised?  I don’t see why an adjustable foot jet mount (similar to D1 ‘flex therapy neck-jet pillow’) couldn’t be implemented as an optional accommodation to shorter legs.

I’m wondering, is my impression of Pre-COVID stagnated hydrotherapy innovation within the industry, accurate …or do new & intriguing hydrotherapy products already exist, (but unless the technology is licensed and included in spa production) rarely make it to consumer awareness?

Unless I’m overlooking a principle of physics; saltwater sanitation, LED lighting schemes, updated aesthetics or web-connected spa management apps aren’t components or technologies that directly influence the quality of massage therapy. Personally, I don’t consider saltwater sanitation systems a proper example …particularly when the R&D imposes a significant recurring cost on the consumer. That seems more so shrewd marketing versus meaningful innovation (I’ll keep using chlorine).

I suppose a reasonable objection to R&D investment risk, could be short-lived products like Caldera’s top-of-the-line Provence (2018 to 2020) that for whatever reason, apparently didn’t gain traction in expected sales

[castletonia]

Personal opinion, neck jets are a crapshoot.  You can never accommodate everyone.  It cost a manufacturer a lot of money to design and create a shell mold which is why you see the more premium manufacturers design and create their own and the lower end manufacturers buy the design/template and reuse it.

I don't necessarily think there is stagnation within the industry, just that manufacturers are not going to introduce a half baked design.  Company's like Hot Spring, Caldera, Jacuzzi, etc have a reputation to withhold and many of their models have been around for years.  If they cannot substantially improve them then they don't.  

As a Hot Spring / Caldera dealer with local competition from the likes of Master Spas, Artesian, Maax, etc, I hear it a lot about the neck jets.  I've also seen it where I've had customers interested in a Utopia Caldera and not fit ideally under the neck jets and opt for something in the Hot Spring lineup which is why I say its a crapshoot.  As for the Provence, I think everyone in the industry knows that double lounger's are low volume sellers.  The Provence existed in Europe before it did in the United States.  It must have sold decently well over there to have been brought into the U.S. market.