HS Sovereign vs. Jacuzzi J 355

[mz32quick]

First off...just wanted to say what a great forum and resource this message board is, glad I was able to find it to help in my hunt for the perfect (for me) tub. When I started my search a couple of months ago I really had no idea about tubs other than they were hot and had jets! haha I visited a few places and started to learn more and then found this forum with it's wealth of knowledge and experience and that really helped me narrow my search to two specific brands, Hot Springs and Jacuzzi.

Fortunately both are great brands and have tubs that I really liked and I recently was able to narrow down my choices to the HS Sovereign and Jacuzzi J 355. Both have a lounge seat which is important to me and have enough space where I could entertain a few people when necessary. Both are quality tubs backed by a solid brand and I feel good about both dealers as they both employ their own spa tech and have been in business for a while in good standing by the reviews I can find.

So, my question is, do the gurus here see one advantage or consideration to keep in mind with either of these tubs that I need to keep in mind? Any personal experiences to share with either of these?

Just trying to do my due diligence and turn over all the stones before plunking down $9k so I appreciate the input!

Thanks!

[Jacuzzi Jim]

    Spec wise the Jacuzzi offers a few more things than the sovereign does pump wise and jet wise.  But both are really nice spas.        I do like the layout in the Jacuzzi better, specially the lounge seat.    You wet test either of them yet?

[mz32quick]

Going to test the J 355 hopefully this weekend or next (my schedule is awful and the store is an hour away). Oddly enough, the place that's got the Sovereign doesn't have it where I can wet test (floor model is sold and the only other one they've got is in the warehouse). So, I called another semi-local HS dealer and they had the Sovereign but I couldn't wet test that one but both places did offer to let me wet test a similar spa with the same type jets but a different seating configuration. That seems to defeat the purpose of a wet test but I'm no expert.

No issue with being able to wet test the Jacuzzi though as it's in the store and ready to be filled up, just need me to call a day or two ahead of time. Really liked the foot and hand jets on the J 355 though, good design there.

[Quickbeam]

Please let us know what you think of the J-355. I've been told that it is a very comfortable tub.

[TwinCitiesHotSpring]

The Sovereign is only a single pump tub so your not really comparing apples to apples...for a closer comparison check out the Limelight 'Flair' model or the 'Envoy' or 'Aria' in the Highlife collection of Hot Springs (that is if your dead set on a lounger)

[mz32quick]

The Sovereign is only a single pump tub so your not really comparing apples to apples...for a closer comparison check out the Limelight 'Flair' model or the 'Envoy' or 'Aria' in the Highlife collection of Hot Springs (that is if your dead set on a lounger)

The Flair was actually a very close #2 and if it were just me that one would likely have been the HS I went with over the Sovereign. The issue we ran into was the lady of the house is a bit shorter and if she was sitting in the lounge her chin (and possibly mouth) would be under water as that lounge seat sits very deep it seemed. It's a great tub though and I really liked it and was quite a bit cheaper than the J 355 too.

[TwinCitiesHotSpring]

The Sovereign is only a single pump tub so your not really comparing apples to apples...for a closer comparison check out the Limelight 'Flair' model or the 'Envoy' or 'Aria' in the Highlife collection of Hot Springs (that is if your dead set on a lounger)

The Flair was actually a very close #2 and if it were just me that one would likely have been the HS I went with over the Sovereign. The issue we ran into was the lady of the house is a bit shorter and if she was sitting in the lounge her chin (and possibly mouth) would be under water as that lounge seat sits very deep it seemed. It's a great tub though and I really liked it and was quite a bit cheaper than the J 355 too.

http://store.spa-mart.com/p/10CH7901/Spa-Water-Brick-Booster-Seat.html?gclid=CPL2qo3f-8MCFQsxaQodez8Atw 

[mz32quick]

The Sovereign is only a single pump tub so your not really comparing apples to apples...for a closer comparison check out the Limelight 'Flair' model or the 'Envoy' or 'Aria' in the Highlife collection of Hot Springs (that is if your dead set on a lounger)

The Flair was actually a very close #2 and if it were just me that one would likely have been the HS I went with over the Sovereign. The issue we ran into was the lady of the house is a bit shorter and if she was sitting in the lounge her chin (and possibly mouth) would be under water as that lounge seat sits very deep it seemed. It's a great tub though and I really liked it and was quite a bit cheaper than the J 355 too.

http://store.spa-mart.com/p/10CH7901/Spa-Water-Brick-Booster-Seat.html?gclid=CPL2qo3f-8MCFQsxaQodez8Atw 

The sales lady at the Hot Spring and Jacuzzi place both showed us an inflatable seat. lol