WE are getting this exact rainshower. We felt the 12 inch one in the showroom and the pressure is good. Our sales consultant explained that the early rainshowers acted like watering cans - the water just poured out without any kind of pressure. That's why it could take forever to wash shampoo out of one's hair. Newer rainshowers, including this Hansgrohe, have pressure - not like needles, but just a force that will help wash out shampoo. The Hansgrohe uses air to do this. So when I stuck my hand under this one, the water felt good - not sharp but it came out forcefully enough. We went with the 10 inch so that it's large enough to envelop the person while showering. Also, depending on how low you mount the showerhead, the cone of water gets larger. The price difference between the 12 inch and the 10 inch was large. If we need a large cone of water, then we can just mount the 10 inch a bit higher. Does that make sense? If you are in the Chicago area, Banner Plumbing Supply has a bunch of showerheads installed in a large, working shower. If you make an appointment for afterhours, you can come in your bathing suit and test them out! Along with the air tubs, whirlpools, etc... But we didn't do that ;)

We have a Thermobalance III that's in a shower and feeds a fixed and a handheld head. No tub spout. Works fine, though the install was slightly complicated- you can't plug the #1 outlet (tub spout), so it's tied into the #2 outlet (fixed shower). Your install is different, but that does make me think of how the valve's set up. You can only run the tub spout or some combo of the 2 showerheads, not both. It's been in use for ~18 mo.s w/o incident. The temp setting has a detent at 90F or so- we use that when we toss the munchkin in the shower w/ one of us. Volume control is basically on/off, with a slight bit of control between how much goes to the fixed and how much to the handheld. I'd do it again b/c it is a very simple look to the controls.

Masco is a huge, multi-national holding company. Just because they own Delta and Hansgrohe does not mean they are in any way the same company or producing similar products. Because Hansgrohe was acquired by a larger company like Masco also doesn't mean they just cut costs and now make a cheap, commodity product. You didn't exactly say that, but it seemed to be implied. So here's some of my research... ;) Hansgrohe remains a German company; three of the grandsons of company founder Klaus Grohe are executives with the company, with one the deputy chairman of Hansgrohe's Board of Directors. The company is still about one-third owned by the Grohe family, and the Board is nearly all Germans. The company is still headquartered in Germany, and has six of ten manufacturing plants in Germany. There is no sharing of employees, management, or production plants between Hansgrohe and Delta. I think calling it "just another brand" owned by "guys in green eyeshades" is truly a misrepresentation. Masco owns other plumbing companies like Newport Brass, cabinet companies like Kraftmaid, Behr paints, Ginger bath accessories -- probably close to 40 different companies in total. It's similar to Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway owning Benjamin Moore paints, Johns Mansville insulation, and Shaw floors (not to mention GEICO insurance, Fruit of the Loom underwear, Helzberg Diamonds, and a few dozen more companies). By the way, I have no connection to any of these companies beyond buying some of their products; I just wanted to respond to the comment above so readers don't come away thinking Hansgrohe is an old, high-quality name slapped on a now-mediocre product. -- Eric

I would never install delta - but that is my bias. I've never met a professional plumber who recommended delta but it's not like I've spoken to every plumber in the world either. What part do you mean is plastic on hansgrohe ? For example, did you know that all the Grohe shower diverter trim plates are actually chrome plated plastic? I highly suggest at least going into a fancy showroom just to touch and feel the items even if you order them on the net. I'm lucky in that I have a local plumbing supply that sells all the stuff at very similar price to the Internet so I get the best of both worlds. Grohe is very reliable and very respected. many plumbers here like the valves. Hansgrohe is a brother company to Grohe - both founded by members of the same family. Hansgrohe is considered generally having the higher end product lines whereas Grohe has a lot of very reliable, home-owner priced sets. To save money I do have one shower that is not Grohe or Hansgrohe - bought the shower set on Overstock.com basically. Wouldn't you know it, I had to repair/replace the shower mixer after a year. It was under warranty but took up 2 hours of my time. The Grohe shower on the other hand - no issues whatsoever. However, I have found several Hansgrohe lines that are similarly priced to Grohe. And some things you can mix and match whereas others you can not. For example, I recently helped a friend spec out several new bathrooms. All Grohe handheld shower valves and bars and handhelds. But for the "elbow" part that connects from the handheld hose to the wall water outlet, I suggested buying the Hansgrohe elbow instead of the Grohe one. The reason is for the same price Hansgrohe gives you an Elbow with a "check valve." The plumbing inspector will definitely be looking for that check valve as soon has he/she sees that handheld and hose. A picture of your open wall would be helpful to understand your dilemma with no room for a valve. Is this for a Tub - or a Tub shower combo - or a Tub, shower, Rainhead and handheld combo, etc., etc... If you choose more items - obviously the plumber has to connect more copper pipes off the shower valve to go to each separate thing you want. if he is limited with space - can you really have all those different items in your shower? Have you considered having the shower diverter valve not in the typical location? The plumber can put the Shower diverter valve on a wall far away and even on a separate wall from where all the heads and handhelds are. this might solve your problem. For example, it's not uncommon now for people to have their shower valve control closer to where they can reach to get the water started and warmed up without getting wet - like on a totally different wall - perpendicular to the actual shower head. For ideas and pictures - go to houzz.com and do a search for "showers" or make it more specific. They have thousands of pictures.