Welcome to our forum.
I don't mean to alarm you brent, but I re-read your posts and it appears you didn't wet test the Artesian. Is that true? We wet tested the Grand Cayman (another Island series model) and the main reason we didn't like it was that the seats were ALL VERY UPRIGHT, and one of the corner seats was too shallow for me to fit underneath the collar (which the Antigua has 2). I am only 5'11" so I'm not extremely tall but this may be of concern to you as well. I would strongly suggest finding any unit in the Island series to at least sit in dry to make sure it's going to be comfortable for you.
Our base price for an 05 Antiqua was 6295.00 Anything Added. 300.00 for the synthetic sideing 250.00 for circ pump, 99.00 for the led light, 200.00 for micro ban shell, 300.00 for ozone,cover lift 199.00, cover,chems,steps and delivery no charge. Of course all that is full retail and negotiable at time of closeing. If you can get them to add micro ban go for as the colors do look brighter,otherwise I dont think its worth the cost nor do I think it really matters if its there or not. All in all I would say its a great price for that spa and considering the price I showed you is based on a 2005 you did good.
Sorry if you have already mentioned this, but why are you rushing into the purchase?There are no good enough reasons to not wet test a spa before purchasing,IMO. If your dealer doesn't have one on the floor. Tell him you'll give them a deposit and have them ship you one for a wet test. You like, you buy. You don't like, you don't buy and get your money back and now the dealer has more than one spa set up for wet testing. It's a win win.
Forget about comparing prices with others here. I am convinced that is a waste of time unless you can find foks in the same market. I'm sure my prices here in Chicago are higher than in Columbus, OH for example just because the overall cost of living is higher. Stores have higher rents, pay more in salaries which means they have to charge more for product. It's simple economics.