The Artesian Quail ridge or Dove Canyon?

[sore muscles]

   Looking for a lounge chair with good back and shoulder massage. Anyone here own either one these and can give me some more first hand experience? Going to wet test some artesian's today. I like the Platinum elite with there separate individual control stations.
   I'm also interested in the Antigua elite and grand Bahama elite with the high neck and shoulder jet with the lounger. The one thing that really concerns me on those two is the lack of direct control near the lounge and that they only have 2 seats with direct flow.

[sore muscles]

Just tested the artesian grand Bahama elite and the pelican elite. The pelican bay was a pretty awesome tub, all decked out with individual controls for each seat, and the control knobs where super easy to turn to any pressure you needed. Was to big for what I needed though.
   Next I tested the Bahama elite and I've got to say the lounge chair has plenty of power and was also  adjustable with a diverter valve "easy turning too." The two other chairs had separate individual control panels that you could easily adjust to any setting at your finger tips and within arms reach. I'm 6' ft and had no problem laying in the lounge, it fit me like a glove. The other two seats where just as good, but being tall I had to slouch down slightly to fit under the neck jets.....no biggy.... my feet where then right over the big foot jets..win ..win. I now know why the Bahama is a good seller, it's an all around great tub.
  Now I would like to test the quail ridge, it's got a smaller foot print but with all the same lay out and it's an elite. The antigua  elite I will be  wet testing this week, it's slightly smaller than the grand Bahama and it's got no over the shoulder jets, but it's got all the controls at your finger tips on each seat.

[sore muscles]

WOW...thanks for all the replies. I traveled over a 100 miles today and nada reply...maybe I should ask vinny about his tub?

[MrLobster]

Morning Sore Muscles, been away a couple of days else I'd have been all over this.

I took delivery of my Artesian Antigua a couple of weeks ago.  Only the base model, not the Elite, but I'm very pleased with it.  The seats are a good size, I'm a little taller than you at 6'3" but fit into the lounger easily and the shoulder jet seat if I'm careful how I sit.  I think the Antigua Elite still keeps the shoulder jets.

If you're going to have a lot of people in the tub you'll probably want at least the Grand Bahama rather than the Antigua.  We had five of us in the tub on Saturday and while we were still far enough apart to be polite, the water level got pretty high.

Happy to help with any questions, I did a lot of research before buying my tub so know a fair amount of the technical details too.

[sore muscles]

Thanks for the reply Mrlobster, I'm not looking for a large party tub or one that will hold a lot of people at one time. I do like the grand Bahama elite, it's not to small and not the pelican bay. I read on this forum you should get a slightly larger tub than needed, just for the simple fact you'll regret playing footsie with other people and not having enough room to feel comfortable myself. I know the tub I need will be only for two people most of the time and when family comes in they will use it, 4-5 people max on rare family gatherings. Looking at the grand and the Antigua, the are almost the exact same lay out, just that the Antigua is missing approx. 8 smaller jets and it is slightly smaller. It seems the smaller you go in tubs, the less features it comes with. I looked at the nevis but it doesn't really have enough back jets, even with the other options. I know I need a lounge chair for the back of my legs because I have "restless leg syndrome" which is a cause on many sleepless nights .  The fact that the lounge chair has those little wrist jest will also come in very handy, since I work with my hands all day long.
   This has narrowed my search down to the Grand Bahama elite , Antigua elite, dove cove, and the Quail Ridge. I really like the elite series for the individual control settings and dedicated pump for each seat, which makes it easy to adjust to any setting I like or who ever is in the tub at the time. You will pay more for that options, but I consider this purchase very personal and a long term investment, and am willing to spend the couple extra bucks to get exactly what I need and not have a 5k buyers remorse.
  Now comes the choice between the 4 tubs. Hmmmm

[sore muscles]

I got a question for you Mrlobster. On the Antigua, it has one less 3.0 bhp moter than the grand Bahama elite. How does this effect the pressure on the Antigua and where is that 3rd pump used on the Bahama elite?

[MrLobster]

I've not had a chance to try the Bahama Elite, but I'd expect the extra pump is used to separate out the seat in the top left corner as you look at the photos on the site.  On the Antigua that seat shares a pump with the lounger.
Pressure is fine for me,  I've even turned down a few of the jets.

[sore muscles]

I think i'm gonna go with the grand Bahama elite. 2 direct flow seats, extra pump for lounge and foot blasters. It's in between the full elite high end models and the basic.  That is why it's so popular. you get the best of both worlds. It's at a fair price and no one tub or one seat on the market is perfect. but this one is near damn close.

[sore muscles]

P.S. the Quail ridge nobody in the Midwest has a wet test or even a display model available because it's not a very popular model. The dove canyon/piper is the next step up in the elite and jumps up in price for all the extras, very nice by the way, but do I need it? will wet test the dove and the Antigua this week..but...

[MrLobster]

Good luck with the wet tests.  Grand Bahama Elite sounds ideal to me, you're getting a good set of features without the platinum class price hike.  Of course,  there's always a deal do be done when it comes to buying.

[sore muscles]

  Turns out that the Quail ridge isn't stocked by any of our local Artesian dealers because it isn't real popular.
  We went to test 2 tubs today, the Dove Canyon and the Antigua elite. The canyon has all the bells and whistles that the elites are known for and is a pretty big tub. We also tested the smaller Antigua elite  and is the exact same thing as that of the Grand Bahama elite, but it has a slightly smaller foot print. After sitting and wet testing in the Antigua for a half hour and seeing how the controls where set up per seat. We came to the conclusion that the one diverter valve that controls the 2 big floor foot jets and lounger, which is located on the opposite side of the lounger seat head rest area, was an acceptable trade off. What I mean by that is, on the Bahama elite the diverter valve for the lounge seat was in arms reach when sitting in the lounger. On the other hand, the Antigua lounger's diverter was on the other side "at your feet area" so you would have to get out of the lounger position to adjust the pressure valve for the lounger. We realized while wet testing this turned out to a very minor thing. When you get into the Antigua's entrance step, the valve is right there at the entrance and as i'm getting into the tub I would turn the valve on too the desired pressure "full" in my case, I would then lay in the lounger on full valve. There's an "air valve switch" for the Antigua's longer right next to your head, which in turn would let me blast it at full and max air pressure with out getting up. Since I already know, that for me personally I need and want full pressure for the back of my legs. When you are done in the lounger you get up out of the lounger to go to the other 2 seats is when you would change the diverter valve to the two big floor foot jets. So as you sit in the back and neck therapy seat you have full control over your seat along with the floor foot massagers and it's all with in arms reach. Very nice layout and in a smaller foot print than the grand Bahama elite. You will loose a few jets in the Antigua, but for me the trade off is minimal. Great little mid size tub with all the features I want, and with no pressure lose to the lounger or any other seat.

Antigua Elite...you had me from hello....

[MrLobster]

That's great news,  and shows just how important a wet test is.  Have you decided on which extras you'll be adding?

[sore muscles]

Spa, cover, air assist cover lifter, and the led lights. No steps, I'll build my own cheaper and better, Just the basic's for $9300. Fair price? I didn't even try to haggle yet on price. I was thinking of getting a gazebo, it has soft sides and a hard top for year round protection and privacy for 1200.

[MrLobster]

Price is something I really can't help with, I'm over in England and prices here are way higher than in the US.  You're certainly paying less than I would have to for the same model.

Out of interest, will yours come with the waterfall and pillowfall?  They are listed on the website as options, but I've never seen a display model without them.

Our spa is open to the elements, I really like looking up into the night sky.  It was especially good a couple of nights ago with the meteor shower going on.  I'm considering buying a shade sail so I can pull it over when there's too much rain, but still see the stars on a clear night.

[Sam]

Spa, cover, air assist cover lifter, and the led lights. No steps, I'll build my own cheaper and better, Just the basic's for $9300. Fair price? I didn't even try to haggle yet on price. I was thinking of getting a gazebo, it has soft sides and a hard top for year round protection and privacy for 1200.

That's a very good price