I'll have to be honest, as much as I want to believe in Aquatic after talking with their incredibly enthusiastic and helpful cust srvc rep,as well as the most impressive specs on the market, I visited a showroom yesterday to experience the real deal (Infinity VII) and found the dry test-drive a bit harsh on the bones, i.e., doesn't conform to body like I had hoped, a little too upright and not conforming to the reclining torso. That test drive, albeit a dry run, convinced me this was not the tub for me despite it looking ideal on paper. Granted I wasn't able to float in the tub with water, so this is slightly unfair to the mfr, but getting in and out of the deep vessel along with reclining in the tub without water was surprisingly uncomfortable, and bone-crunching. I'm a young man still, and felt like multiple grab-bars on the walls would be de rigeur. The only reason I post this is not to discourage you from buying Aquatic, but because shopping for a whirlpool/airbath combo has been one of the most difficult quests I've experienced in planning my bath addition, and on paper, this was the tub for me, in vitro, this was NOT the tub for me. Just keep in mind that you simply must seek out a showroom to sample any tub prior to making the huge investment - not just money for the tub, but permanent plumbing specific to that tub leaves little room for future change of heart! For this reason, I've been very careful in ensuring that I'd be completely happy with the fit, and felt it necessary to share my experience. This is a decision 3 years in the making due to lack of showrooms that simply don't offer the real test drive or tub variety that gives you an overall gestalt. Again, Aquatic might be for you, but test drive it, or your regrets will eat you up. Other tubs I've crossed off the list, right or wrong, were Bain Ultra cause I simply wanted the combo, however, they seem to have an unbeatable reputation in the strictly air-bath category. Sani-jet, I actually experienced with water, and the jets were simply too weak for me, but again all their specs looked good on paper. Neptune, I experienced in a hotel, and was extremely impressed, but when it came to owning one, the contour again wasn't something I'd want to recline in for an hour, and none of this years styles/profiles appeal to me. Americh, don't know. Maax.....two trades people gave me bad reviews saying they make the most comfortable, stylish tubs with the necessary whistles and bells, but technical issues required discontinuing their carrying the line....surprising, as Home Depot Expo was pushing this on me like you know what. What am I going with, well I did a dry test run on the Jason LX635 (6 foot) which meets my comfort criteria without water, looks great on paper, has been in the business for as long as Jacuzzi has been in business (Jason=son of Jacuzzi), and was carried by a local trusty high end fixture place with exceptional reputation and attentive to customer feedback. Again, I'm taking a risk without doing a 'wet' run, and their head pillow was so poorly placed, that I dissed the option, but overall, it met most of my criteria. Will keep you posted after install, etc. The most comfortable tub I've experienced was the Maax oval-shaped whirlpool-air combo (Pearl?), but again, I talked to two vendors who said they had issues with them which is highly unfortunate since comfort-wise and on paper it was the perfect tub, like sitting in a LazyBoy, but with water massage. I hope to seek something comparable in the Jason.

The spa has been done for about 1 year now. We are very happy with the outcome. Here are the final pictures. Most things worked out great, a few things we would have done differently. 1. The polished granite plaster finish is great however it had to be installed twice. The first time the hose clogged and by the time the installers gave up on the hose and carried it in some had set up so it had a lot of cracks. 2. We had to have the plaster polished a few times as the first few installers did not have much experience. Be sure to check on the plaster installers experience with the finish and visit a reference if possible. 3. The salt / ozone / nature 2 system works great. We keep the clorine level at 1 and have not had any problems. 4. The Jandy remote is great but has some quirks. See my post on the Jandy variable speed pump. If you have a range issue, pick a different channel. It controls the pump, waterfall, yard lights, blower, chlorine and ozone. 5. A bit concerned as to the life of the Jandy heater. We had a sensor on the heater fail at the 12 month mark. The 400,000 BTU unit was the way to go. About 30 minutes to temperature in the summer and 2 hours in the winter. 6. The installer, Carlonia Pool King, has been very good about post intallation service and fixing any defects. 7. The variable speed pump is super. Most of the time we run it at 750rpm and you can't even tell it is on. It only runs at 2750 rpm for two hours in the morning so the chlorine generator works. It has to have a minimum amount of flow to produce chlorine. At full speed the 2HP motor can run the waterfall and 8 jets with no problem. 8. The gunite guys knocked the jet pipes around a little and the angle and heights are not quite as designed. Double check the heights after the rebar goes in and be sure to have a clear drawing handy so the seats go in correctly. 9. The LED lights are the only way to go. Love the color choices. 10. I like the different waterway jets we selected but a couple of them pop out fairly easily if you twist them to control the volume. Not sure why. 11. The waterfall is really nice. The dog like to lie down in the hot water. 12. Very happy we put in yard lights at the same time and connected to the remote. 13. Shocked at how expensive it is to repair sprinklers. We basically had to re-install the entire back yard.

Well, now we are just waiting for the Archetictural Review Board to review our plans. The ARB is kind-of a joke because we only have 3 houses in our neighborhood. Anyway, we went with a 7.5' spa. I though 7' was too small and 8' was too big. I "borrowed" some of all of your suggestions and ideas and went with all stone surround added a step, all Pentair and 400,000 btu. Still trying to decide on 7', but the ARB does not care about that. Thank you for all of your help! I'll post more pictures once we get started.

Forgive me if this is a repeat, but I'm not sure I was successful sending earlier. I have a similar set up as mjpools. My Polaris QT 2 hp blower sounds like it overheats (high pitch sound). I read today, Polaris engineers this to happen (release of pressure)for convenience rather than resetting timer?? I took off front plastic panel and found a release valve exerting pressure. Anyhow, it doesn't seem to be good for blower to be making exessive noise. This only occurs when pump (2.5 hp Whisperflow) is in spa mode and all (6) Waterway Poly Storm jets (some may be more restricting-message, twin roto)are inserted. If one is removed, it doesn't result in overheating. Waterway tech tells me there are no other jet sizes to try, but less restictive ones perhaps. I do have a long run as well-65' with I'm guessing:(2) 90s and (2-3) 45s. Air/water lines were supposedly installed for efficiency as well. The blower is secured on a 4' high, 2" dia stand pipe with a set screw. Otherwise, the blower will shoot off. I notice my neighbor has a lot more pressure in his spa. Could be his 1/2 shorter run, 5 jets and 1.5 hp blower. Since my *%^%$# builder will not return my calls, can you please HELP? I'm a novice. Any help is appreciated. Thank you! Go Cardinals!