Searching for new tub

[auguy]

Hi All,
Just found this site.. Lot's of great info and inputs...

I'm searching to replace my old Sundance and have narrowed my choices down to
HS Aria
D1 Aurora
Marquis Wish

I know that I need to wet test and plan to do so over the next week. Looking for inputs on pricing. So far, I've received quotes for $10K on the Aria,  $9.4K on the D1 and $7K for the Wish.  I'm a little concerned with the Wish as the dealer seems a bit flaky (doesn't answer phone, no return calls, doesn't know much about the brand etc.)

But, saving $2-3K in price is huge for me. 

I've also looked at the Caldera Tahitian and Clearwater St. Andrew.  I like the layout of the tubs, but the dealers are >100miles away. Should this be a concern from a service perpective???  Of course, they both have stated no problem, they will travel here to service, but I'm not convinced.

Thanks much for any inputs........

[spa goddess]

If the dealer is "flaky" and you haven't even purchased the tub yet, will it be a surprise to you when he doesn't answer your calls when you need help or have a question?  The seduction of a lower price will be forgotten when you need him and he's not there. 

Over 100 miles away, yes a dealer can service but I would be prepared for potentially longer waits.  He would need to schedule most if not all of a day to travel, repair, and return.  It would be natural to try to group a few together if at all possible.  I would also anticipate a hefty travel fee with gas prices as they are.  A well respected local dealer with good BBB rating will be your best bet for long term satisfaction.

[Spatech_tuo]

Hi All,
Just found this site.. Lot's of great info and inputs...

I'm searching to replace my old Sundance and have narrowed my choices down to
HS Aria
D1 Aurora
Marquis Wish

I know that I need to wet test and plan to do so over the next week. Looking for inputs on pricing. So far, I've received quotes for $10K on the Aria,  $9.4K on the D1 and $7K for the Wish.  I'm a little concerned with the Wish as the dealer seems a bit flaky (doesn't answer phone, no return calls, doesn't know much about the brand etc.)

But, saving $2-3K in price is huge for me. 

I've also looked at the Caldera Tahitian and Clearwater St. Andrew.  I like the layout of the tubs, but the dealers are >100miles away. Should this be a concern from a service perpective???  Of course, they both have stated no problem, they will travel here to service, but I'm not convinced.

Thanks much for any inputs........

1) If the dealer seems flaky BEFORE you make the deal I'd be really worried after the check clears.

2) If you don't want to spend $10k why aren't you comparing other models from Hot Spring and D1 that are more at the level of the $7k Wish?

3) A good dealer can service a spa that is 100 miles away but I'd only go that far if I didn't have as good of options locally, I was really confident of that dealer, I had in writing what the travel fee would be for warranty work and I was a bit of a DIYer so I might not need the dealer for simple things and could help diagnose issues before needing them.

[sorebikr]

Hi All,
Just found this site.. Lot's of great info and inputs...

I'm searching to replace my old Sundance and have narrowed my choices down to
HS Aria
D1 Aurora
Marquis Wish

Out of curiosity, why not another Sundance?

[ejf The Spa Guy]

auguy,
 you have a good list of manufacturers, you cannot go wrong with either of them,, but an important part of the purchase is the dealer you search out to work with, if its bad now do you think that will change ? service down the road?,,, no matter ther brand that dealer sold if he did not return calls, i would go elsewhere. no question about that...between the 3 brands the Hot Springs and the D1 have the low amp 24 hour circ pump,,, a big plus. also the hot springs and D1 have floating skimmer weirs, the Marquis uses the Vortex like the Clearwater St. Andrew. I am not a big fan of that,, as you look at the spas listen to the words all the salesman use to sell there tubs, the exclusives and the only ones.. also the " constant Clean" only can be if has a 24/7 circ. not a pump that runs 2 hours every 12." Self Cleaning" etc...But with the differance in dollar you have here were the D1 and the Hopt Springs models you are looking at are higher,, you should be looking at the D1 Sojourn and price wise will be in the same range,,, The Aurora is a great model has a lot of features above and beyond the Sojourn, Buying from a dealer that is 100 miles away is not a big deal, in the are we are at good size city then surrounded by lots of farm land, i sell a lot of tubs to the outer areas, yes there can be trip charges to cover fuel,usually do not have to wait to long to fix, I believe it is the dealer on their customer service how they handle it...

[colo_artist]

I'm enjoying my new Marquis Wish. I looked at a number of similar spas, including the two others you mention, and the Wish is what I went with. After 3 months of daily use, I have no regrets whatsoever.

The circ pump or lack thereof...
My previous spa was a Saratoga. It had a 24 hour circulation pump. In addition to the circ pump the Saratoga would also do periodic "filter cycles" where both main pumps and the air pump would all come on full blast. When it did that, the old Saratoga was rather noisy. Also, in 11 years, I replaced the circ pump 3 times…the circ pump was a problem for me.

The Wish doesn't have the 24-hour pump. Instead it runs one of the main pumps on low. The factory default is 2 times a day, but you can adjust the frequency. The place I bought it from, Spa Brokers in Denver, recommends 6 times, which is what I have it set at. The Wish with one main pump on low isn't much noisier than the Saratoga's 24-hour pump. The Wish never does a "full blast" filter cycle, so it's a very quite spa.

I checked their manuals and it looks like in addition to the circ pump, both the HS Aria and D1 Aurora do periodic filter cycles at intervals during the day. I couldn't tell if they use both pumps on high like the Saratoga, or just one on low like the Wish, or something in between. It might be worth checking out if noise is a concern. Links to the manuals...

http://www.marquisspas.com/pressroom/documents/2011/2011_MarquisOwnersManualWeb.pdf
http://www.hotspring.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/owners-manual/hot-spring_spas_owners_manual_2011.pdf
http://www.d1spas.com/pdf/Doc-1535RevC.pdf

The filters...
I don't know about the floating weir systems on the other two spas, but the Wish doesn't seem to lack in being able to filter the water. Even with the filter cycle being one pump on low, there's considerable water being moved. Whether it makes a difference or not, the blades on the Marquis' certainly put a swirl on the water around the filters. Here's an animated diagram of the Marquis' system...
http://www.marquisspas.com/difference_clean.asp

I preferred the covered filters on the Wish and the Aria to the exposed filters on the Aurora.

A few other things...
The D1 had the nicest controls...really, really nice controls. However, the Aurora doesn't have a secondary control like the Wish and the Aria. (Update: I was wrong. The Aurora does have a secondary control. I just didn't remember there being one.) The Aria's controls were fancier than the controls on the Wish. However I found them overly complicated to use. I'm sure they would have gotten easier with some practice, but initially I struggled to figure out what was what. The Marquis has the plainest control panel, but I found it the easiest to use.

Also, it seemed like on the Aria one button controlled all of the jets. To get to the second set of jets one had to first start up the first set. On the Wish, sometimes I want the jets on and my wife doesn't. The Wish has a separate button for each of the main pumps.

Jets...the Wish has 50, the Aria and Aurora both have 35. Although jets don't necessarily make the spa, the additional jets in the Wish were in the areas we liked...the legs on the lounger, and the arms, lower back, and the, ahem, "butt sides" on the "captain's chair."

Size...
Marquis rates the Wish as a 5 person spa. However, 2 of those 5 are "cooling" seats. They're handy, but people setting there will be 1/2 out of the water. For everyone to get a good soak only about 4 will fit and have jets, but it's a bit of a tight fit. Three is fine. For two it's luxurious.

Although the Aria is also rated as a 5 person spa, I only found 4 seats in it. It too is really great for a couple where one enjoys a lounger and the other a seat.

Aurora...5 person, but unless two of them are really skinny and only want one big jet on their back, it's more like a really nice 3 person spa.

One last thing...

The Wish has a weird curve. Mine is recessed into a deck and it took a bit more work to fit the decking to the curve. Not bad though. In my case the curve had one big benefit...access. There's a joist near the front of the spa. With a rectangular spa I was thinking I'd have to move the joist back to make room for maintenance. The equipment is located on the Wish's curve so that concave shape gave me plenty of clearance so I was able to leave the joist as is.

Good luck with the hunt. You've narrowed it down to some great spas, so it's hard to go too wrong.

FYI, we went with silver-swirl for the shell color, it shows off the aqua color of the water...nice, We also opted for the LED lights...they're nice too.

Here are some pics of my Wish...

[ejf The Spa Guy]

Colo artist,
glad you like your Wish, I sold them many years ago and they are a great brand, On you going through 3 circ pumps , Circ pumps that Laing put out had issues, as in chemicals were very hard the pumps, the circ pump that Laing makes now has a magnetic field for the impellar instad of the shaft,  so the chemicals and junk do not effect, I also on my own personal tub 92 D1 with a circ i have never replaced it... And my cousins  Marquis a 96 with a circ just got replaced for the first time a month ago..I sell both styles in my spas,

On your Marquis they recomend 6 times a day? when standard mode on there system and most is the filter cycle on low speed runs 2 hours every 12 hours, at this time it injects ozone, then the spa sits idle . except for the daily spurts of the jets,,so if you are running 6 times how long are the cycles?.

On the periodic cycle you say on the D1 is  timed full run so no stagnant water in the lines, But it is also one time during the day which you can set with the menu driven topside( Mdrive) and when this comes on even on our showroom that is like a big open warehouse space, when the cover is on you can hardly hear the spa, and when i show this ( Amore Bay) with all 3 pumps running i can carry on a conversation with the consumer across from me without raising my voice...

On the filter skimming, again i am familiar with both styles, the Vortex and the floating skimmer, Besides the Marquis using that so does the Clearwater spas we also sell, on all these brands the filters are covered by the vortex top the extra top Marquis uses, and the skimmer s,, D1 used to have a cover over the top, he really did not do anything usful except the look , and actually Our customers like the look without anything bulky there.. Yes the concept of the Vortex is to get the water that is being pulled into the skimmer to rotate down and around the filter. But if you think about it. what does the water do in you sink going down the drain, what does you toilet do.. it already creates the vortex, so it is not needed, floating skimmers also help keep the oil slicks from coming back into the vessel of water when the pumps stop, also the pesky flies that land in the tub , go to the skimmer ,if the fly does not get sucked down the fly is still in the water...i see it all the time..

On the controls I really like the D1s with the menu driven controls , very easy to control , very easy to read, also gives reminders on time to clean filter, add water, change the mineral purifier,, also has a great tech button...
and on the secondary buttons for the pumps the Aurora also has that in the back corner by the lounger, but really not necesary since the jets timing can be changed from the topsdie control in 30, 45 , or 60 minutes, most spas shut the pumps off after 15 to 20 minutes thats why the have the secondary control...

Jets that you talk about on the lounger D1 has foot , calves but not thigh, and wrist.  ALso has the volcano foot jet, Oh and the Neckflex jet the First adjustable headrest in the industry, Corner seats also have lower jets , and in the cool down seats yes they have one big jet hitting the lower back, but like you said the cool down seats are not used the most,

When you are talking about seating capacity all manufacturers overstated the eating numbers on max including the entry step, i would conside all three model as great 3 seaters, 4 cozy ,5 cramped,,, there is actually more space in the Aurora then the Wish mainly with the curve in... I have sat in both.. and sorry not a big fan of the Spa frog,, i try to talk people out of them on our own spas,,,,

Coloartist, don't get me wrong i am not knocking the Marquis like i said they a great brand. like i said i sold them in the past i was part of their Ruby club in 2003, BUt just making sure the facts are straight on here.

And also i really liked the way your tub turned out,like i said in the other thread also i hear you on the curves we have the bay series spas, And i have currnetly 2 big Amore Bay spas dropped into decks,,,but keep enjoying your tub..just my 2 cents

[colo_artist]

Hi ejf,

Thanks for your time and expertise.

Laing does ring a bell. Glad to here they've improved the design.

I checked the Spa Brokers printout, and unless I'm misunderstanding something, their recommendation is 6 cycles. I had no idea each cycle was 2 hours, but I got the manual out and it clearly states that it's 2 hours. The spa is so quiet, I never noticed how much it was running. Having it run 12 hours a day does seem excessive, so I'll dial it back.

Yeah, the old Saratoga was noisy. It was hard to carry on a conversation when everything was running. Glad to hear the D1's are quiet. The Wish is quiet too...with both pumps on high it's easy to talk.

Again, my only long term comparison is with an older Saratoga, but the filters in the Wish are much improved. The skimmer sounds good, but not to many problems with flies getting into the water here in CO. I suspect the blades on the Wish's filter system are more for looks than functionality. Anyway, they seem to do the job.

The control on the D1 was truly exceptional. I didn't remember a second control on the Aurora, but I found a  good sized pic of one and see it over by the lounger. My mistake.

It's funny, even with the curve, the Wish seemed more roomy to me than the Aurora. I think it's because Marquis put the pumps under the cooling seats. There's not much blank areas in it. In the Aurora there's some empty space by the foot of the lounger. Hummm...the Aurora is listed as holding 290 gallons, the Wish with more, 340.

The frog system wasn't a deciding factor for me one way or the other. Since the Wish came with it I decided I'd give it a chance. It's been fine so far, but I'm not sold on it being worthy of the extra bucks.

I would have preferred the D1's controls, but the Marquis control panel is more than good enough. Actually there was lot's to like about the D1, but the configuration was just slightly off for us.

When testing the Wish everything felt just right for us. To be honest, I was swayed by small differences in the layouts. With the D1 the lounger seemed to be the focus with the seated sections be a bit more plain. With the Wish, the lounger and cap'n chair both seemed to have an equal number of features. The Wish was nice and comfy-cosy for the two of us.

One other thing I like about the curve...I can easily reach the main controls from my "captain's chair."

Take care and thanks again.

[ejf The Spa Guy]

no problem , enjoy that spa.....