Hoping To Get Some Solid Buying Advice ,

[Just Pete]

My wife and I are looking hard to find a good quality hot tub. We've wet tested a few brands and so far , what has fit us best is :

Catalina XL16000

Hot Springs Grandee

Jacuzzi J470

I think all seem to use pretty good components . I like the Catalinas Balboa EL8000 which appears to be the best controls of the 3.

Features wise , both my wife and myself found the Catalina to be the most fun filled , the foot massage we both felt was equal to the Jacuzzi. Neck massage was also good. We loved the mist system on the Catalina as well. It comes equipped with the "FROG SYSTEM" for automatic chemical injection.

Basically all 3 are pretty well equipped and comfortable though the Catalina felt the most solid (By a slight margin)

The full foam scares me a little , but the warranty on the Hotspring is great.

The warranty on the Catalina seems a bit scary and the dealer I will be purchasing from has stopped carrying the Catalina in favor of Bullfrog. (We both did not like the shallow Bullfrogs) But the dealer is reputable and seems honest . Was a good guy to deal with. I worry about being charged trip charges and had to travel almost an hour to this dealer. His reason for dropping Catalinba was cost of carrying 2 lines and that they like the unique Bullfrogs.

Being pretty mechanically inclined I do feel I could easily fix most anything on the Catalina easier than trying to fix fully foamed units.

So down to the deals ...

I basically have all deals as follows

All will have a cover lift with twin shocks

All will come with stairs (The Catalina will come with matching Mahagony stairs instead of the more generic ones for the other 2)

All will come with a Prefilter to fill the tub

All have the CD Ozone

All come with a chrome/stainless ring package

All have nice lighting though the Jacuzzi and Catalina are superior

Only the Catalina comes with stereo

Only the Catalina comes with Aromatherapy injector (Which I could take or leave)

The Catalina will come with an extra set of Frog cartridges.

The Catalina will come with an extra set of filters.

All include delivery in price.

I wont say the price , but ALL are within $100 of each other.

My worry with Catalina is the Warranty and that usually when poor warranties are offered it shows the lack of faith in your product. But both my wife and I really like the Catalina.

The Catalina comes with 3 main motors that they claim are 4 hp each. I'm guessing this means they are about 2 hp each . Regardless , they got the tub pressure pumping just fine and it was nice not having to run all if not needed.

Help would be appreciated with this from those that know . I really don't need sales pitches. Just some good experienced advice.

Thanks in advance ,

Just Pete

[Just Pete]

Anyone ???

[Roger]

If your wet test proved the Cat to feel the best I would go for it. I think Catalina makes a fine product and have seen a few in my time. I don't think the warranty will be a big issue as a well made tub should not have to many if any problems during the warranty period. And after that you said you were handy so no problem. The Cat uses off the shelf parts available online or from just about any dealer. The other 2 choices are fine products also.