Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Review of the Sanyo SA-5000 Massage Chair Recliner

By Steve Esquire


This review covers the SA 5000 massage chair by Sanyo. We will evaluate the features, options and warranty of this mid range chair. There are many chairs on the market and many from small factories in China at very low prices. It is important to find good brands with strong warranties so you can have many years of peaceful and relaxing massage therapy. Let us take a look at this Sanyo massage chair.

We start with the unexciting topic of warranty coverage. The warranty coverage is to help balance out the risk of problems in the future. This is especially important on more expensive items to protect against defects. The better the warranty, the more peace of mind for the consumer. Sanyo covers the roller mechanism for 3 years, 1 year on the rest of the parts and 1 year on labor. Sanyo has finally introduced in-home technician service and is giving 1 year. Sanyo has a national call center to handle warranty items which gives them better control over service levels.

The mid range Sanyo SA 5000 has many of the same features as the higher end Sanyo. In addition to the remote control, Sanyo provides a wired sub remote. The sub remote allows operation of the chair back and foot rest. It also has the pulse and perspiration sensor to detect stress in the body. The SA-5000 comes with 4 automatic programs that can be started at the touch of one button. There are a variety of manual massages and also you can choose from preset manual courses. The manual courses target specific regions of the back or you can also pinpoint to hit one specific area.

One of the features rolled down from the higher end Sanyo is the perspiration and pulse sensor. This sensor is built into the wired sub remote. It detects areas of stress in the body. The sensor then feeds this information to the computer and the software will adjust the massage to target areas based on these readings. In order for this to function, the user must grip the sensor throughout the massage. Also, the sub remote allows you to change the position of the chair back and the leg rest. It also has a repeat function. The repeat function will command the chair to repeat the massage just given in the place it was given. This is convenient when it hits one of the key places and you need it to stay there a little longer.

There are 4 effective massage therapies built into the SA-5000. They are Stiffness, Recovery, Relax and Fine. Each has specific target areas and results. All of them deliver full body massage therapy. Stiffness is based on Shiatsu massage and is for the back and legs. Recovery helps to loosen stiff and tired muscles. Relax is for achieving total body relaxation and tranquility of the mind. Fine helps to increase blood and lymph flow. The SA 5000 also has 3 stretching functions for the lower body. You can activate a stretch function and it will seamlessly plug into the massage treatment already activated.

The SA 5000 has some innovative and unique manual massages. In particular the Grip massage. The grip massage is possible through the GK roller system unique to Sanyo. These rollers are designed to reach out from the chair. The grip massage is effective for the shoulder and neck areas. Additionally, the manual massages are Shiatsu, Kneading, Tapping, and Combination. Shiatsu uses a combination of the chopping and kneading actions. The kneading massage is a pinching action particularly effective in loosening tight back muscles and shoulders. Tapping is a rapidly delivered soft blows at a rate of up to 200 per minute. The Combination runs the kneading and tapping at the same time.

Are you looking for lower body relief? Sanyo provides an air compression system to provide a great squeeze, hold and release massage. This compression style massage is perfect for loosening up the tight muscles of the thighs, calves and feet. The airbags are designed with shiatsu style nodes to stimulate your acupressure points. These acupressure points help to induce whole body relaxation. If that is not enough, Sanyo has built in heating elements to warm the soles of your feet. This is a very comprehensive and thorough massage chair recliner.

We like the SA 5000 massage recliner from Sanyo. It has some great integrated technology like the pulse and perspiration sensor and the GK roller system. These are innovations you would expect from a large electronics company. We are less impressed with the look of the chair as it is a bit industrial in design. The warranty is fair and the 1 year in home service is an added benefit. You should really look at an extended warranty if it is offered for additional protection. If you are looking for a mid range massage chair, then this one should be on your short list.

About the Author:

No comments: