Just a quick update. I spent days reading material on air tubs and whirlpools and got my decision down to a 36 x 72" Jason and Purebath. To get an outside opinion, I called an online bath dealer in the Richmond, VA area where I used to live (Whirlpooltubs.com, Steve) and after discussing a lot of models, which he sells as well, he steered me to Mansfield, an UN-fancy company that offered a ton of features and everything I was looking for, at a nice price. I ended up with the Baywood 6 Ariance GentleTouch (air bath version) which has back jets with heated neck/back rest, heated silent air (all offer this), included neck pillow, chromatherapy. This combined the features I thought my husband might benefit from (back jets) with the surround air jets, in a quiet system, as we will put the motor on the other side of the wall with insulation. Mansfield offers the Ariance in 3 models: HealthTouch (whirlpool), GentleTouch (air bath) and DualTherapy. I would love to tell you what I think about this bathtub, but we are still building our home and are months' out yet. This dealer was on the ball and very helpful.

Wish I'd seen this link sooner but I'll post my 2 cents... The air issue is a biggie! We have the Bain Ultra Amma and it came with dual back heaters. When we installed it, the back warmers didn't heat and the air jets were cold. The tech support was fantastic and they immediately shipped me a new motor. Unfortuantely, It didn't help much. I guess remotely locateing the motor just has the air cool too much making the run?? I LOVE the chromatherapy. I generally don't use the air jets in winter b/c it cools the water in the tub too quickly. :-( So I basically have a beautiful large bathtub with really cool lighting. Their tech support is awesome but unfortunately the air is what it is... An inline heater is not an option with this tub b/c both ports are used up with the worthless back heaters... Here is a link that might be useful: my tub

I'd greatly appreciate some help with a decision I'm getting ready to make. We are building a new house and planning a separate shower and jetted tub in the MB. The problem is I have no personal experience with the tubs. I should also mention I live in a small, rural area with no showrooms nearby. We did find a shop selling Aquatic tubs about 50 miles away, which we went to see. They had 4 or 5 models on display, but they were above our price range in the $4000 to $5000 range. What I've discovered from my online research and from some catalogs I've picked up is that there are "air bubble" tubs and "whirlpool" tubs, or a combo of the 2...so I think I'd like to have the combo. I think the MAAX Living, and Aquatic Luxeair both have the combo of features, but I'm sure there are others. I'm asking for your opinion for performance and value on combo tubs. I'm looking in the $2500 to $3500 range. What brand/model/size do you have? What are the pros and cons? I'm also taking into consideration the amount of water they use. I hope you've got some words of wisdom for me. I'm feeling the pressure with so many decisions to make for the new house, and now I'm stuck on the tub. It will soon be time for the plumber to start...and I still need to pick the tub.

Most manufactures are using heated air systems, think of the air motor as a glorified hair dryer they will heat the air to approx. 30 degrees above the air/room temperature they draw in, so if your motor is drawing in room temp say of 70 degrees the air coming into the tub is then heated to approx. 100, most people will bath in 100-102 so the heated air will help to maintain the water temp in the tub. Some company's are now adding an In line Heater option to their air tubs, the In line Heaters used to be only available on whirlpools models. I personally love Air tubs but I would be hard pressed to choose between a whirlpool or Air so I would have to do a Combo tub with both! One of the company's that now have the In line Heaters on their Air tub is Hydro Systems. Here is a link that might be useful: tubz.com