Help me choose? Jacuzzi, Bullfrog, Beachcomber or Marquis

[Quickbeam]

13% tax!?!?!?!  That's ridiculous.

Not sure where "Riot" is from, but his tax rate is only 1% higher than ours - we pay 12%.

[MarKee]

I would at least dry test the tubs if you're not going to wet test. The Marquis 660 has 3-4 seats that will fit shorter people really well, and at least 2 of them have some really good jets.

[Tman122]

HK jets in the Marquis are awesome. And you don't have to move jet packs, you can simply move to a different seat. I'm not saying the movable jet packs don't give you another option but I still think it's gimmicky.

Does anyone have jet packs sitting in their garage waiting to be used. Or do you just switch around the ones in the tub? How often do you switch them around?

[kingdarb]

I didn't think it was so much a gimmick as a better mouse trap to be honest.  YMMV.  In about one minute I could play musical chairs with all the jetpacks in the seats of my tub.  I think this is better because it allows me to but the jets that would be most therapeutic to me at a given time in the seat that I most prefer (ie seats have different heights/loungers/etc).  If you are happy with the seats the jetpacks are in you can leave them there but it is by no means a chore to switch them from seat to seat.

I personally don't have any sitting in the garage as I didn't see a need to buy extras that would not be used.  All of mine are in use in the tub.  As for how often I switch them around?  I have maybe moved them from one seat to the next three or four times.  Takes less than a minute to do.  No tools, almost no effort. 

HK jets in the Marquis are awesome. And you don't have to move jet packs, you can simply move to a different seat. I'm not saying the movable jet packs don't give you another option but I still think it's gimmicky.

Does anyone have jet packs sitting in their garage waiting to be used. Or do you just switch around the ones in the tub? How often do you switch them around?

[riot138]

13% tax!?!?!?!  That's ridiculous.

Not sure where "Riot" is from, but his tax rate is only 1% higher than ours - we pay 12%.

I'm from Ontario Canada.  We aren't even the highest tax rate in Canada, it's 15% in Nova Scotia.

[Quickbeam]

13% tax!?!?!?!  That's ridiculous.

Not sure where "Riot" is from, but his tax rate is only 1% higher than ours - we pay 12%.

I'm from Ontario Canada.  We aren't even the highest tax rate in Canada, it's 15% in Nova Scotia.

I'm from B.C., Canada, and as I said ,ours is 12%.

[dporter22]

Sounds like it is diverted to me.

That's what I was trying to get to. I have seen it in person and it IS a diverter and a sales pitch.

As I explained, it is not a diverter like on other tubs since increasing the individual power adjustment on a seat does not reduce the power at any other seat.  With the Bullfrog design you get full power at every seat without any noticeable decrease at another, which is much different than other tub brands whose diverters actually divert power from some seats to get full power at others.  Every seat in a Bullfrog gets full power if you want it.

Not sure why this is so hard to understand, or why you think it's not true or a sales gimmick.

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

PHYSICS

[Hottubguy]

Sounds like it is diverted to me.

That's what I was trying to get to. I have seen it in person and it IS a diverter and a sales pitch.

As I explained, it is not a diverter like on other tubs since increasing the individual power adjustment on a seat does not reduce the power at any other seat.  With the Bullfrog design you get full power at every seat without any noticeable decrease at another, which is much different than other tub brands whose diverters actually divert power from some seats to get full power at others.  Every seat in a Bullfrog gets full power if you want it.

Not sure why this is so hard to understand, or why you think it's not true or a sales gimmick.

It's not hard to understand it's impossible

[MarKee]

If the power is the same when running 6 JetPaks vs. 1 JetPak, they are restricting the flow.  It is physics.  The purpose of a diverter valve is to take the maximum amount of power from a pump and focus it in to 1 seat or a certain group of jets.

[dporter22]

Please explain exactly what it is in my explanations that is impossible or defies the laws of physics.

I said that every seat can have full power, that you can turn down the power if you like, and that you don't have to divert power from one seat if you want full power at another like other brands.  Bullfrog tubs do not have the typical diverters that channel flow to some seats at the expense of others.  These are all true statements, are not impossible, and don't defy the laws of physics.

If you're simply talking about what happens when you turn down one of the seats, then as I explained previously the flow is distributed to other jets.

What specifically is incorrect about any of the above?

[kingdarb]

Why argue about this at all?  If you are interested in a Bullfrog tub, go wet test it and check out how all the valves affect the jets and see if you dig it.  If so, consider buying it; if not then look at another brand.

[Jacuzzi Jim]

 Take a normal spa like a Jacuzzi.  2 pumps, 1 pump runs one side, one runs the other side.  Bullfrog is primarily the same.
If I hit pump one with the divertor pointed to the middle both seats get equal pressure.  If I turn it to the right one seat gets less the other more, turn it all the way to the right and one seat gets none.   When the diverter is in the middle you are dividing the pressure between two seats.  Technically not full power, right?  At least getting as much power as both seats can. 

 On either spa I am not including other jets or foot jets that take flow as well.

  So take a Bullfrog with 2 pumps, same as the Jacuzzi one pump runs one side the other pump runs the other side.  If I close one BF divertor down at the btm,  it will send full power to the other seat, so one seat get less.  If I open them both up you again divide that pressure between 2 seats.  So really both seats are getting as much as the can, but not really full power just as much as that pump can deliver GPM divided by 2.   And again not including foot jets or some of the other jets taking flow.

 I will say with Bullfrog you do not have all the hoses, manifolds 3/4" lines running to 30 jests or 90* elbows a normal spa would have,  so I believe you are getting more pressure from the pump without restriction from all the plumbing in a normal spa.   When you say each seat gets full power in a way it's right, but its really not.

 Now when you look at a Artesian platinum class with it's direct flow system and one pump per seat if they still have it, then yes each seat is getting full power or at least as much as it can with plumbing restrictions and what not.  In other terms one pump per seat.   It actually was/is a really cool system, but I didn't really find in any more powerful than anybody else's system.    But it was a great sales pitch like any other spa has. 

  Make any sense? 
\

[Jacuzzi Jim]

Why argue about this at all?  If you are interested in a Bullfrog tub, go wet test it and check out how all the valves affect the jets and see if you dig it.  If so, consider buying it; if not then look at another brand.

 Because he already has a B,frog..   

[dporter22]

Take a normal spa like a Jacuzzi.  2 pumps, 1 pump runs one side, one runs the other side.  Bullfrog is primarily the same.
If I hit pump one with the divertor pointed to the middle both seats get equal pressure.  If I turn it to the right one seat gets less the other more, turn it all the way to the right and one seat gets none.   When the diverter is in the middle you are dividing the pressure between two seats.  Technically not full power, right?  At least getting as much power as both seats can. 

 On either spa I am not including other jets or foot jets that take flow as well.

  So take a Bullfrog with 2 pumps, same as the Jacuzzi one pump runs one side the other pump runs the other side.  If I close one BF divertor down at the btm,  it will send full power to the other seat, so one seat get less.  If I open them both up you again divide that pressure between 2 seats.  So really both seats are getting as much as the can, but not really full power just as much as that pump can deliver GPM divided by 2.   And again not including foot jets or some of the other jets taking flow.

 I will say with Bullfrog you do not have all the hoses, manifolds 3/4" lines running to 30 jests or 90* elbows a normal spa would have,  so I believe you are getting more pressure from the pump without restriction from all the plumbing in a normal spa.   When you say each seat gets full power in a way it's right, but its really not.

 Now when you look at a Artesian platinum class with it's direct flow system and one pump per seat if they still have it, then yes each seat is getting full power or at least as much as it can with plumbing restrictions and what not.  In other terms one pump per seat.   It actually was/is a really cool system, but I didn't really find in any more powerful than anybody else's system.    But it was a great sales pitch like any other spa has. 

  Make any sense? 
\

Yes, your explanation of most other tub brands makes sense in that you have to divert pressure at some seats in order to get more pressure at another.  That's my point.  The difference with a Bullfrog, as I have explained several times, is that you don't have to sacrifice pressure at one seat in order to get more at another.  Just as you said above, in a Jacuzzi if someone wants more pressure you have to divert pressure from someone else. 

In a Bullfrog every seat can choose their own pressure level independent of the other seats, and even with all the seats fully open there is plenty of pressure at every seat, almost too much.  You don't have to decide who gets full pressure and who doesn't.  I think the misconception might be that people who haven't tried a Bullfrog think that if all the seats are set to full, that there is not enough pressure to go around, kind of like the middle diverter setting you were describing above on a Jacuzzi which can only put out a medium amount of pressure when divided between two seats.  This is not the case in a Bullfrog.

I tested many other brands of hot tub and every one forced me to divert pressure away from some seats in order to get full pressure at another seat.   And every time I asked the sales rep "What happens when I have all the seats occupied and everyone wants full power" they all made some excuse like "You'll never really have a full tub" or "Most people don't want full power anyway", etc.