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Artesian *WILL* be there. I will not as I went last year and I don't expect much to have changed in the industry. I'd insert an image of their booth but I don't know how to/Don't have the permission to in the settings.Of the booths that are there (Apollo Group and Watkins do NOT go, which kind sucks cause that is a big chunk of the top end spas), Bullfrog, Marquis, Strong, and Artesian have the coolest, cleanest, neatest booths. Coast Spas booth isn't bad. There are some Asian market tubs that are there but we only buy American so I didn't really scope them out, but their booths were ok. Some booths were embarrassing.
Full Disclosure: I am an Artesian Spas dealer.Antiqua Elite is a 3 motor system + Circ pump. 2 unique features found nowhere else: DirectFlow, Switchless Motors. DirectFlow: 2 of the 3 motors are variable speed motors. (Marquis VECTOR series will be introducing this at the expo but they position their VECTOR series ala the PLATINUM ELITE series from Artesian so lets keep it apples to apples). Nobody does variable speed motors. That gives you the ability to throttle up or down the rpm's on the motor, vs having only one or two speeds. Additionally- Artesian has done this for many years so the kinks have been worked out. They also put the motor next to the seat that the DirectFlow functions on. This severely reduces all manner of plumbing (Please don't yell at me ala BullFrog Spas plumbing discussions: I only said its reduced. I didn't quantify it, guys!). But yes- Its reduced so you get more bang for your buck out of the motor. When I have one filled in the showroom its actually very quiet too, relative to other spas.Switchless Motors: 10-15 less moving parts. This encourages a longer lifespan. That will certainly get detractors in a ruffle as, yes, motors are only as good as your water chemistry. Bad water chemistry = breakdown in the seal = water in electrical components. I get that. But it has the ability to last longer if all things are equal. I will say that I have other brands that don't have this feature and I have noticed less issues overall.They also run a full 5 year parts/labor warranty that I think only Sundance can match. I think Master Spas has one like that but it costs extra. I could be wrong but Artesian is one of the very few with 5 years/100%. And as a dealer I can attest that they're very easy to work with and pay out expeditiously. Bullfrog, Hot Springs, Marquis, Sundance, Jacuzzi, Dimension 1 all have 5 year parts and labor component warrantiesThey have a CD ozone that lasts five years as a standard feature but you can do CrystalAOP, and they have super-neato special filter blah blah blah. To me its all about water chemistry but some salespeople love to discuss that.I can go on but really its about comfort: Do you like the way the tub fits your body and do you like the way the jets feel? Then its the dealer- Are they reputable? Do they do their own warranty work? Do they work on the tub outside of the warranty? I'll let a Clearwater Spas dealer speak to them as I prefer a positive exchange of information. I hope this helps. Good luck moving forward.
Quote from: The Wizard of Spas on October 27, 2016, 12:14:08 pmFull Disclosure: I am an Artesian Spas dealer.Antiqua Elite is a 3 motor system + Circ pump. 2 unique features found nowhere else: DirectFlow, Switchless Motors. DirectFlow: 2 of the 3 motors are variable speed motors. (Marquis VECTOR series will be introducing this at the expo but they position their VECTOR series ala the PLATINUM ELITE series from Artesian so lets keep it apples to apples). Nobody does variable speed motors. That gives you the ability to throttle up or down the rpm's on the motor, vs having only one or two speeds. Additionally- Artesian has done this for many years so the kinks have been worked out. They also put the motor next to the seat that the DirectFlow functions on. This severely reduces all manner of plumbing (Please don't yell at me ala BullFrog Spas plumbing discussions: I only said its reduced. I didn't quantify it, guys!). But yes- Its reduced so you get more bang for your buck out of the motor. When I have one filled in the showroom its actually very quiet too, relative to other spas.Switchless Motors: 10-15 less moving parts. This encourages a longer lifespan. That will certainly get detractors in a ruffle as, yes, motors are only as good as your water chemistry. Bad water chemistry = breakdown in the seal = water in electrical components. I get that. But it has the ability to last longer if all things are equal. I will say that I have other brands that don't have this feature and I have noticed less issues overall.They also run a full 5 year parts/labor warranty that I think only Sundance can match. I think Master Spas has one like that but it costs extra. I could be wrong but Artesian is one of the very few with 5 years/100%. And as a dealer I can attest that they're very easy to work with and pay out expeditiously. Bullfrog, Hot Springs, Marquis, Sundance, Jacuzzi, Dimension 1 all have 5 year parts and labor component warrantiesThey have a CD ozone that lasts five years as a standard feature but you can do CrystalAOP, and they have super-neato special filter blah blah blah. To me its all about water chemistry but some salespeople love to discuss that.I can go on but really its about comfort: Do you like the way the tub fits your body and do you like the way the jets feel? Then its the dealer- Are they reputable? Do they do their own warranty work? Do they work on the tub outside of the warranty? I'll let a Clearwater Spas dealer speak to them as I prefer a positive exchange of information. I hope this helps. Good luck moving forward.
You're H.O.F. in my opinion. Im just a minnow trying to not get gulped up by the big boys, Tman. I thoroughly enjoy your takes on BF and know I'd get ran out of the arena if I didn't toss up a per-emptive white flag.