Jacuzzi Vs. Artesian

[mommabuys]

We have narrowed our search down to the Jacuzzi 470 or the Artesian Piper Glen (we ruled out the Sundance Optima because of the retailer). Artesian boasts the "full foam insulation" in their spas, but we cannot find anything re: insulation on the Jacuzzi 470 or 480 models. Is anyone familiar with the differences between these two, and is this really important? Any other tips on choosing between these spas?

[D.P. Roberts]

We have narrowed our search down to the Jacuzzi 470 or the Artesian Piper Glen (we ruled out the Sundance Optima because of the retailer). Artesian boasts the "full foam insulation" in their spas, but we cannot find anything re: insulation on the Jacuzzi 470 or 480 models. Is anyone familiar with the differences between these two, and is this really important? Any other tips on choosing between these spas?

There's not much about construction in the downloadable 400 series brochure on Jacuzzi's site, but the 300 brochure goes into a little more detail. Suffice it to say that the Jacuzzis are fully foamed.

I would wet test both models, and go with the one you like better. The Jacuzzi 400 series and the Artesian Platinum series are two of the best spa lines out there. I think you'll be extremely satisfied with either one.

[mommabuys]

We have narrowed our search down to the Jacuzzi 470 or the Artesian Piper Glen (we ruled out the Sundance Optima because of the retailer). Artesian boasts the "full foam insulation" in their spas, but we cannot find anything re: insulation on the Jacuzzi 470 or 480 models. Is anyone familiar with the differences between these two, and is this really important? Any other tips on choosing between these spas?

There's not much about construction in the downloadable 400 series brochure on Jacuzzi's site, but the 300 brochure goes into a little more detail. Suffice it to say that the Jacuzzis are fully foamed.

I would wet test both models, and go with the one you like better. The Jacuzzi 400 series and the Artesian Platinum series are two of the best spa lines out there. I think you'll be extremely satisfied with either one.

Thanks for the info. We did wet test both (as well as Bullfrog, Sundance) and both have higher seat areas that would work for my kids. Have you heard anyone have mildew issues with the rubber trim around the lip of the Artesian spas? (I know, I'm getting picky here!)

[mommabuys]

We have narrowed our search down to the Jacuzzi 470 or the Artesian Piper Glen (we ruled out the Sundance Optima because of the retailer). Artesian boasts the "full foam insulation" in their spas, but we cannot find anything re: insulation on the Jacuzzi 470 or 480 models. Is anyone familiar with the differences between these two, and is this really important? Any other tips on choosing between these spas?

There's not much about construction in the downloadable 400 series brochure on Jacuzzi's site, but the 300 brochure goes into a little more detail. Suffice it to say that the Jacuzzis are fully foamed.

I would wet test both models, and go with the one you like better. The Jacuzzi 400 series and the Artesian Platinum series are two of the best spa lines out there. I think you'll be extremely satisfied with either one.

Thanks for the info. We did wet test both (as well as Bullfrog, Sundance) and both have higher seat areas that would work for my kids. Have you heard anyone have mildew issues with the rubber trim around the lip of the Artesian spas? (I know, I'm getting picky here!)

Also...The quote we received (SouthEast area) for the J470 was just at $10k...how much wiggle room do you think we have on negotiating? It seems like August '07 was a pretty slow month for sales on hut tubs around here.

[bohms]

momma - I have an Artesian Piper Glen and we don't have mildew around the rubber trim that you're talking about....no mildew at all......it'll be a year next month that we'll have ours. LOVE IT!! What price were you quoted on the Piper Glen?

[mommabuys]

momma - I have an Artesian Piper Glen and we don't have mildew around the rubber trim that you're talking about....no mildew at all......it'll be a year next month that we'll have ours. LOVE IT!! What price were you quoted on the Piper Glen?

Our initial quote is $10995 (without stereo) with $500 in options (cover lifter, steps, etc.), but we are sure we can get them to come down quite a bit because of the slow market in Atlanta in August (it was over 100 degrees 15 days in a row). What price did you pay a year ago?

[bohms]

momma - I have an Artesian Piper Glen and we don't have mildew around the rubber trim that you're talking about....no mildew at all......it'll be a year next month that we'll have ours. LOVE IT!! What price were you quoted on the Piper Glen?

Our initial quote is $10995 (without stereo) with $500 in options (cover lifter, steps, etc.), but we are sure we can get them to come down quite a bit because of the slow market in Atlanta in August (it was over 100 degrees 15 days in a row). What price did you pay a year ago?

Not bad....we paid 10K and that included cover lifter, steps, chems (no stereo) and we're in Northern NJ.

[mommabuys]

momma - I have an Artesian Piper Glen and we don't have mildew around the rubber trim that you're talking about....no mildew at all......it'll be a year next month that we'll have ours. LOVE IT!! What price were you quoted on the Piper Glen?

Our initial quote is $10995 (without stereo) with $500 in options (cover lifter, steps, etc.), but we are sure we can get them to come down quite a bit because of the slow market in Atlanta in August (it was over 100 degrees 15 days in a row). What price did you pay a year ago?

Not bad....we paid 10K and that included cover lifter, steps, chems (no stereo) and we're in Northern NJ.

The Jacuzzi 480 quote we have is $10495 (with steps, cover lifter, chem's...) and the Artesian salesman says $10995 is his best deal. We were leaning toward the 480 anyway (because my 14 year old found it more comfortable and I was not fond of the look of the filter setup on the Aretesian line), so I think we will probably go with the Jacuzzi. Any last thoughts from anyone before we literally dive in?

[old guy]

We have narrowed our search down to the Jacuzzi 470 or the Artesian Piper Glen (we ruled out the Sundance Optima because of the retailer). Artesian boasts the "full foam insulation" in their spas, but we cannot find anything re: insulation on the Jacuzzi 470 or 480 models. Is anyone familiar with the differences between these two, and is this really important? Any other tips on choosing between these spas?

We're in the same position, but have ruled out the Piper Glen as a truly 4 person spa. For that price, I want to seat six adults comfortably.

IMO, the foot well is too small to seat more people without playing footsies, and only one side seats is reasonably comfortable unless you are a child or a midget.

The Jacuzzi is a deeper tub and raises the side seat bottoms compared to the corner seats, but no too much, so that at six feet tall, I only have my shoulders out of the water. Those seats are still usable, and reasonably comfortable.

The J480 will seat 6 comfortably without having to do contortions or play footsies.

The Piper Glen is actually smaller than the Emerald of the Artesian Gold line. I measured corner to corner at the back of the head rests, using a tape measure. Three inches shorter in one direction and 2 inches in the other.

The Emerald has a larger footwell than the Piper Glen, and the foot jets are stronger, judging by the Opal that we wet tested. (The Opal felt like a kiddie spa - too small) If you work on your feet all day, the stronger foot massage is welcome. You could seat 6 or 7 in the Emerald or the Pelican Bay, but I just don't see it in the other Artesian models.

I did not have a chance to wet test the Emerald, but I dry tested the seating and did not find it to be as comfortable as the Jacuzzi. The Jacuzzi is a deeper tub and so the seating is more comforable, since you don't sit in such deep holes, with your legs so pushed up.

I found that the Gold and Platinum Artesian spas have much more powerful jets with a more therapeutic rotary action, but they seem to get stuck now and again, and they have to be adjusted to get them going again. I found the Jets on the Artesian would be pushing me out of the seats, so I would turn them down. They really give a strong deep kneading massage. The Artesian jets are ball bearing jets, and so you will have to start replacing them after two to five years, at $20-$25 a pop, when they start to wear out.

The direct flow jet controllers on the Artesian Patinum series are much better than the Jacuzzi diverters.

The Jacuzzi, jets seem weak compared to the Artesian jets.

The Jacuzzi uses two 56 frame pumps and a circulating pump.

The Artesian uses more pumps with some sort of new switchless motors that they claim will last tens of years, instead of hundreds of hours. I have seen no proof that this is true, but that's what they claim.

So you get to choose. Do you want to replace motors in seven to ten years or jets every two to five years?

Do you want a really good therapeutic deep kneading massage, or a lighter message with more comfort, for more people?

I found the lighting on the Artesian more elaborate.

The Jacuzzi stereo sounded better than the Artesian Platinum stereo. Apparently the Artesian sound system was designed by Bose (that's what they said) and it does have that typically terrible Bose sound - all screechy tweeter and booming sub woofer, with zero mid-range. I just wanted to cover my ears and turn it down or turn if off. It's not so bad as low level background music, but don't turn it up loud. It sounds awful. We use comercial DJ speakers (JBL MR925s and a Yorkville Sub) in our pool area in the summer, and I guess I have been spoiled. The Jacuzzi sound system was at least tolerable. It was OK at higher volumes.

The taller Jacuzzi will not fit through my 42" pool fence gate, and I would have to remove a section of fence to get it in. No big deal. It's a steel fence and comes apart and re-assembles easily.

The Jacuzzi has full foam insulation just like the Artesian, which is much more suited to northern climates.

The Jacuzzi and Artesian both employ pressure treated wood internal frames.

The Pelican Bay has a 92" X 108" footprint. The Emerald and the J470 both have a 91" X 91" footprint.

The J480 has a 94" x 94" footprint. The J470 has to give up the 3 inches somewhere, and it does this in the footwell on the opposite side of the tub from the stairs. I found that while the J480 provided good room for 6 people, the J470 was shorter on footwell space, due to losing that 3 inches.

The Jacuzzi has a complete ABS bottom tray, while the Artesian use a thick ABS sheet and pressure treated wood around the bottom.

The Artesian seemed quieter during operation, but I tested them on separate days in different places, so it is hard to say for sure.

With the pricing we got, the Jacuzzi falls about half way between the Emerald and the Pelican Bay.

Bottom line for us is that if I am going to pay that much for a spa, I want to sit six people comfortably. I want the unit to be reliable.

At this time I am leaning towards the Jacuzzi, if we buy at all.

You can get a really top notch custom sauna installed for half the price, so we are also considering that, since we already have an inground swimming pool.

Update:

We pulled the trigger on a spa purchase. After wet testing the Sundance Optima, we knew right away that it was the best choice for us.

The price was comparable to a similarly equiped Artesian Emerald, which helped make the choice easier.

The Sundance Optima, had the best footwell space. All the side seat seat-bottoms are raised up, so they are not uncomforatable to sit in. Users will not be as immersed in those side seats, but they will be comforatable. (Someone needs to make a high end round tub with all corner seats and a deep or big foot well.) The jets are noticeably more powerful than the Jacuzzi, but not as powerfull as the Artesian. They are just fine however, for delivering a good massage. I found the Artesian jets too strong, and would turn them down anyway.

IMO the wigwag type jets do not give as good a massage as the Artesian rotary jets, but they seems better built to last, do not get stuck, and they are noticeably better than the Jacuzzi jets.

The footwell foot jets are very strong and give a good massage for someone who works on their feet, or, who spent the day in ski boots, or hiking. They are much stronger than the Artesian Platinum series foot jets and stronger than the Jacuzzi foot jets. Both of those fail to provide a real massage. They are not quite as strong as the Artesian Gold series foot jets, which do provide a good kneading foot massage, with their power and swirling action. You have to move you foot around over the Sundance foot jets to get a kneading sensation.

There are jets for the calves in two seats and these are good and strong, for a decent massage.

IMO the stereo, is close to the Jacuzzi and better than the Artesian.

It occurs to me that the salesman may have had the subwoofer turned up way too high on the Artesian. That seems to be the tendancy with Bose like systems. The user feels there is something missing, because there is no midrange, and tries to compensate by turning up the subwoofer. This only serves to make the big hole in midrange even more obvious. Setting the sub flat usually sounds best with these systems. The sound is very tiny like the speakers, high frequency biased, and you have this thumping boom boom from the overdriven sub. To me this sounds awful.

When I wet tested the Jacuzzi and the Sundance, I brought my own MP3 player, and the first thing I did was to turn down the subwoofer to neutral, to eliminate the booming. This seemed to improve the quaility of the sound reproduction considerably. This may be part of the reason I found the sound on the Jacuzzi and Sundance stereo systems better.

The Jacuzzi has four solid mounted speakers, that sound less tinny than the two Artesian cylandrical popup speakers. The Sundance has two popup speakers too, but the popup casings are oval and wider, so I am guessing the speakers are bigger. They seem to produce more midrange.

Due to being on different work schedules this week, my wife and I had to try the Sundance tub separately. She felt the same as I did. We both independently found it the best choice for us.

Bottom line is that you get good value for the money. It is a party tub for six, but still gives a good therapeutic massage to all the key areas. I can see why it is any award winning tub.

We also check out Coast spas, Hydropool Spas, and Beachcomber spas, but did not see anything that we wanted to wet test.

The insulation on the Hyrdopool models was not full foam, and we did not even consider these, since we live in the coldest national capital in the world.

We also wet tested the top of the line Elite spa, by MAXX. I have to comment on the Elite. It is flashy, with lots of chrome jets and a sequencing lounger. Every seat is comfortable with one person in the spa. However, for the number of seats, the foot well is too cramped. Two people sitting beside each other is crowded. The insulation is not very impressive for a cold climate. They use some sort of chipboard backing for their spa shell. This seems very unwise. Mixing chipboard and water always seems to end badly. The lack of full foam insulation, and the chipboard sent me packing without even considering it as an option.

There may have been other spas that would be better for us than the Sundance Optima, but we could only try so many and not all are available at dealers in our area.

old guy